No Matter Where You Go
by Oldest Man
Summary: How far would you go to protect the ones you love?  Castle finds out. And so does Kate Beckett.  Castle/Beckett. Final Chapter.  This is my 2nd attempt at a story. Thanks for the comments and special thnks to the Immortal 31.  Enjoy
1. Chapter 1

Just thought I'd give you a taste of the next escape from boredom. Not as long or as angsty after the first 2 chapters. Give it a try. Think - Last of the Mohicans.

OM

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><p><em><span>No Matter Where You Go<span>_ by Oldest Man

Chapter 1

12th Precinct  
>Homicide<p>

Castle sat in his usual spot beside Beckett's desk fiddling with his new phone trying to send his favorite Princeton student a text message but it wouldn't send and he was rapidly reaching the point where the phone would find itself the victim of traumatic disassembly when it hit the wall of the squad room.

"Ever try reading the directions first, Castle? It works wonders." She stood beside him, closer than she would have a month ago, and smirked at down at him. Such a boy with a toy.

"Ha-ha-ha, Beckett, you're a riot. I'll figure it out. Besides, figuring things out is half the fun." He fiddled with the phone and almost dropped it when it suddenly trilled an unknown ring tone.

Beckett glanced over at him and saw how his face paled and then how his thumb hovered over the 'ignore' key but he made up his mind and accepted the call.

"Excuse me, Detective, I have to take this call." He stood and walked to the break room and, rare for Castle, closed the door. She knew it wasn't anything to do with his family because he would have told her. They had no secrets from one another any more.

They'd been dating for about 4 months and had reached a 'comfortable' level of intimacy. She still saw other people but she knew Rick had been 'exclusively' hers since the first time she'd said 'yes' to his dinner invitation a few weeks after she and Josh had parted ways. She needed someone who was 'hers' and would put her first above all else and thus she'd said 'yes' to Castle.

Sometimes she'd cook for him and other times he'd cook for her or they'd order in or go to small restaurants for intimate dinners. They went to galleries, openings, and once he took her to a Broadway show that was sold out for weeks in advance. She casually mentioned it and the next thing she knew, she was sitting in one of the best seats in the house with Castle sitting beside her, holding her hand and rubbing those damned circles on the back of her palm.

She had yet to share his bed but knew it was only a matter of time. He hadn't pushed, letting her set the pace for physical intimacy. She was pretty sure he was the one for her but like Lanie said, she kept one foot on the floor ready to scoot if something better came along.

She didn't see the hypocrisy everyone else apparently did and would have ignored it anyway. It was just the way she was, unsure of her choices in men and always ready to move along to the next one in her search for the sure thing, the mystical 'one and done'.

Castle didn't seem to mind and he never got jealous or uptight when she mentioned a date with someone else. He seemed satisfied with the status quo and she had no desire to rock the boat. She hadn't gone out with the same guy twice. It wasn't her rule. It just seemed to be the way things worked out.

Her subconscious recognized something she either couldn't or wouldn't. None of them were Rick Castle.

* * *

><p>Rick closed the break room door and leaned back against it. He answered the call with his usual 'Castle' and spoke with rare intensity.<p>

"Hello, Jordan. I've been dreading your call." He liked Jordan Shaw but since being assigned to him as his liaison instead of being a profiler, she tended to be surly, abrupt and curt, not her usual way of dealing with a man she might have had the hots for long ago. "Tonight? No! No way! I haven't begun to prepare Alexis or Mother. You haven't given my plan a fair shot, Jordan. No way. You promised me more time."

He didn't know why he was surprised. People lied to him all the time for their own purposes. Even Beckett. What was it that cranky doc on TV says all the time? _"Everybody lies."_

"I know Jordan, I know. Just – just promise me you'll check in from time to time with Alexis and my mother? The Trusts are in place for both of them but…yeah, well, I appreciate it."

She'd about browned her drawers when he'd brought up redistributing his not inconsiderable wealth 'in anticipation of death' and she'd beaten him verbally about the head and shoulders until he explained what he'd planned and then she reluctantly agreed.

"I'll meet your people at the usual place. Remember your promise if anything happens to me. Remember your promise, Jordan!" He was adamant. He didn't really trust the Feds anymore than regular cops did. Pushy, arrogant, condescending – he remembered Sorenson. Yeah, typical Fed.

There was a long pause while he listened to Agent Jordan Shaw talk. She sounded almost as sad as he did, trying to calm him down and trying to make amends for doing what her superiors thought he was being ungrateful for. After all, they were 'giving him a new life' not recognizing or caring that it was at the expense of his 'old life'.

"Okay, okay, I'll calm down but you're not the one they're after. Yeah, well, Jordan, face it, Beckett and I were never going anywhere any way. She is still in the market and I am just someone to fill the time with."

Another pause. Not as long but from the look on his face…

"Yeah, I know it's sour grapes but she's still dating others while she is exclusively the only woman in my life. Pathetic, I know but it's my fate I guess."

Another pause, this one causing him to respond angrily.

"Damn it, Jordan Shaw! I know my role in this little one-act travesty. Remember your role in it. It's just a bit part after all. I'll be there. Jordan – tell Beckett – nothing, nothing. I'll be there on time."

He disconnected the call and leaned back against the door. Tonight he was going to die in a most spectacular manner but he would die at peace knowing he was ensuring the safety of his mother and daughter.

He'd run out of time and now everything would change. He was angry at Beckett, the FBI, Jordan Shaw, the Syrian terrorist cell, the asshole who sold him the MP-5 out of the trunk of his car and overcharged him - everyone.

His cell phone trilled again and he answered, as always, with 'Castle'.

"We have your daughter…"


	2. Chapter 2

This is NOT a death fic. No need for it. It's a set-up chapter. It'll wrap up in one or two more chapters. This is just a character thing. I appreciate the continued support for what reads like a dark fic. Thanks for the patience.  
>OM<p>

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><p><em><span>No Matter Where You Go<span>_ by Oldest Man

Chapter 2

Beckett's Apartment  
>4am<p>

A pounding awakened her from a deep sleep on her apartment door. Kate grabbed her service pistol and walked through the living room and into the foyer and glanced out the peephole in the door.

She saw Captain Montgomery, Lanie Parish, and FBI Agent Shaw all standing grim-faced waiting for her to answer the door. Her mind was inundated with random thoughts but one stood out – someone had died and this was the 'official notification team'.

She removed the safety chain, undid the deadbolt and opened the door. Lanie was first in, giving her a brief hug and then leading her back into the living room and pushing her down on her couch.

"Kate, something happened tonight. Something bad. You need to be strong, Kate." Now that scared Beckett. Oh, no, not her father!

"Lanie, was – is it my dad?" She didn't think the FBI would be with them but it was the first thought that came to her sleep-muddled brain.

"No, Kate. It wasn't your father. It was Rick. Rick Castle. He's dead, honey. Captain Montgomery got a call from the 26th Division and he took me with him to the scene. I ran a DNA comparison from samples I took when you first arrested him and compared them to – to – to tissue samples I found at the scene when I got back to the morgue."

Captain Montgomery sat on the other side of her and told her what he knew. It was brief but unassailable.

"Bob Halsey over at the 26th called me. They found Castle's car all shot to hell and partially submerged in the East River. There wasn't a body but there were – there were blood and tissue residues on the driver's window glass that hadn't been carried away by the river."

"You said his car – " She couldn't think straight. It was too much to comprehend.

"I drove over with Dr. Parish and saw the car. It looked like another car tried to run him off the road several times. There were bullet holes in the door, the back and side windows as well as the trunk lid. There was a 9mm Glock found on the passenger seat. An empty clip was on the floor and he'd fired all but 2 rounds from the pistol before – "

"Would you like some coffee?" Kate was running on instinct and autopilot.

"No, Kate, it's all right. Jordan and I will take care of it later. Just listen to Captain Montgomery, sweetie."

"A stolen SUV was also found at the scene. Castle went down fighting. There were several bullet holes in the door and the windows on the passenger side were shot out and the airbags had deployed when they hit the seawall. There were bloodstains on the passenger seat and on the dash and steering wheel. There were at least two attackers and that corresponds with FBI intel."

Jordan Shaw spoke for the first time.

"Detective Beckett, two members of the sleeper cell that planned the dirty bomb attack that you and Castle thwarted are unaccounted for. We've learned that they planned on killing everyone involved with foiling their plans. Castle, being famous, was first on the list followed by his daughter and mother and then 'the cop'. They didn't even know your name."

Kate felt her blood run cold. "You knew this and you did nothing to protect him? What about his family? You knew and yet you did nothing? You used him as bait, didn't you? Answer me, Jordan!" She hadn't mentioned herself. She could take care of herself. Rick was -.

"Yes, Detective Beckett, _live_ bait. The best kind. It was his idea. This has been in the planning stages for several weeks now since the plot was discovered. We offered to place him in the Witness Protection Program but he said couldn't do that to the people in his life and instead came up with another scenario and it would have worked but – " Jordan stopped talking and seemed to be gathering herself up for something worse than she'd already related.

"Someone called him and said that they had Alexis and would kill her if he didn't surrender to them for 'the execution of righteous justice'. If he did, they promised to let everyone on their list off the hook. He called me and I told him it was a trap but he wouldn't listen. It was his daughter, Detective, who was at risk, and you know Poppa Bear. That's the last I heard from him until the liaison with the 26th contacted the FBI."

"What about protection for him and his family? Why didn't you have someone on them 24/7?"

"We did. His detail was less intrusive that the others since we couldn't let the terrorists know we knew about their intentions. His detail was right behind him but got involved in a traffic accident when they pushed a red light and got blindsided by a trash truck. One is dead and the other is in the hospital. It was a terrible coincidence, nothing more. An accident."

"Shaw, what about Alexis? Is she alright?"

"She's fine. She's asleep right now in her dorm room in Princeton. Her detail confirmed it _again_ before we came here to – to tell you about Castle. After Rick called I checked but he didn't answer his cell when I called back and so he didn't know it was a trick and that he was driving into a trap or he was already engaged in the fight."

"Where did Castle get a gun? I didn't know he had one."

"Detective, this is New York City and he had connections from his books. He could have got a gun anyplace. He had one and he used it to his advantage."

"Martha and Alexis – they need to know. Let me get dressed and I'll go to Martha's. Later, we'll both go to Princeton and tell Alexis."

"Beckett, Esposito and Ryan are on their way to Princeton to bring little Castle home. Martha's spending the night with her latest boyfriend and she isn't answering her cell. The security team will notify her first thing in the morning. They're parked outside his condo and will stay until she either answers her cell or 8am at which time they'll wake her and inform her of her son's death." Montgomery's comments divulged just how close he was to the operation.

"Detective, there's something I should tell you. He was out of time and the Bureau was turning him over to the US Marshals for transport to Witness Protection. He would have 'died' tonight anyway, just not so spectacularly or as permanently. I'm sorry for your loss. He was a special man and I know you will miss him."

Jordan Shaw stood and nodded to the others and then walked across the living room to take a call on her cell phone. Her work here was done. Someone else, probably Homeland Security, would do the follow-ups.

"This is Agent Shaw, who is this? How did you get…" She paled and then quickly left Beckett's apartment.

* * *

><p>"Thirty minutes," Jordan Shaw replied and disconnected the call and made another one, this time to the FBI team that was assembled to handle the Witness Protection issues.<p>

"Castle's in a warehouse out on Pier 26 on the East River. He says – he says 'he's solved our little problem and to come clean up the mess he made'." She gave out the address and then turned back to Beckett's apartment uncertain what to do then made her decision and left the apartment building.

* * *

><p>Kate was numb. Lanie scurried off to make coffee and Montgomery spoke quietly to Kate.<p>

"You're on bereavement leave for at least a week, maybe more if you need it. I know you and his daughter and mother were very close. Take the time to help them in this time of tragedy. Call me if you need anything at all. Dr. Parish will stay here until you decide what to do. We're all sorry for what's happened, Kate. All of us."

"Did you know, sir? Were you in on it?" She had heard what was said and who said it. Montgomery had known but hadn't said anything to her or her team. That was unforgivable in her eyes. She had a right to know. He was her partner, if nothing else, but he was so much more to her and Montgomery knew that.

"Castle and Shaw came to me and we worked together on Rick's plan but like Shaw said, we ran out of time. Take the time off, Beckett. Take all the time you need."

"Why didn't he tell _me_? He told everyone else but me. Hell, I'll bet he even told – Lanie! Did you know about this?" She was yelling by this time. Here famous temper and short fuse were plainly in evidence.

"I think that's my cue to leave, Beckett. Don't be angry with those who care about you. Everyone had the best of intentions and given the situation, those intentions were all we had going for us. Good night, Katherine."

His use of her first name surprised her. He'd never, in all the years they'd served together, referred to her as anything other than 'Detective' or 'Beckett'. Never.

Lanie walked the Captain to the door and they exchanged a few words and then he left. Lanie took a deep breath and walked over to the couch and handed her the cup of coffee she'd made.

"I was brought in towards the end when it looked like Castle's plan wouldn't work and we'd need to 'prepare a body' for him to go into Witness Protection. He – he fought us every step of the way. I asked him why once, after he'd driven Jordan off in tears. He said 'I'm not ready to leave Kate yet, while she's still so unsettled'."

"Lanie, why not Witness Protection for me? I'm on the list." It seemed unfair that she'd been robbed of that time with Castle planning his 'plan' and they could have gone off together and she said so.

"Oh, puleeeeze, Kate! He knew you'd never leave the damned job for him or anyone else. He knew what you two had was, how did he put it, oh, yeah, 'transient in nature'."

"What the hell does that mean, Lanie?"

"It means he knew he was a placeholder until you found the right guy at the right time. He didn't like it but accepted it as the price he had to pay to be with you, even if it was all just temporary. The one-night stands were things he overlooked because he loved you despite how things were."

"Lanie! I never slept with any of those guys. I just never dated them a second time because – because they weren't Castle. I was going to come clean and take all the right steps to make us a proper couple but this happened…I waited too long to be absolutely sure and now – "

Lanie stayed with her until she finally fell asleep and then she took up her place on Kate's couch and had herself a good cry.


	3. Chapter 3

This chapter deals with Castle's search for Alexis and its consequences. Fallon and Shaw make an appearance. Beckett has choices to make in the future but not now. Enjoy.

OM

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><p><em><span>No Matter Where You Go<span>_ by Oldest Man

Chapter 3

A few hours prior to the events in Chapter 2

Castle followed the two men as they staggered from the wrecked SUV and followed the seawall to the docks. It was easy to follow them since one was half-carrying, half-dragging the other. He felt a grim satisfaction in knowing that the man clutching his neck and staggering along was doing so because he had shot him.

He smiled, more a grimace really, and limped along about 20 yards behind his would-be kidnappers. He'd banged his knees into the dashboard when his car had hit the raised curbing on the seawall. The right one felt like something was torn and broken and sometimes when he stepped on that foot he felt the knee twist and he wondered if it would fail him before he found where these scumbags had his precious little girl and brought some pain and suffering down on them if they harmed a single hair on her head - even a split end.

His self-confidence took a dive when he realized something: these bastards had a destination in mind and that meant they'd been herding him instead of trying to kill him – at least at first. That pistol had certainly come in handy. They never expected a clueless writer to have a gun. Not him.

The pair came to a string of corrugated tin-sheathed warehouses and suddenly the wounded one gave a sharp cry and fell. The other bent over him and Castle saw a sharp flash of light reflecting off metal in the uninjured man's hand and then a strangled cry from the wounded man that ended in a strange wheezing sound.

The kidnapper stood and then said something in a foreign tongue and then jogged several yards until he came to one small warehouse that had a Jeep Cherokee parked beside it. The man lit a cigarette and Castle could see the smoke curling about his head. This one was dangerous. He'd just killed his partner and now was easing the stress or enjoying the moment with a cigarette!

Castle stopped beside the body and searched it. He almost gagged at the cloying coppery scent of blood that mixed with the miasma of rotting fish from the nearby processing plant. He couldn't imagine how he would write this scene. You couldn't put the smell into words.

He found a 9mm, some plastic zip cuffs like the riot cops used and a nasty looking knife and he stuffed both in the waist band of his pants but held the zip cuffs in his hand and walked slowly towards the smoking man. He had a plan, God help him.

Watching the smoker enjoying his last cigarette, Castle approached him from behind and was almost to his target when the man flipped the cigarette out across the road and turned and banged on the warehouse door.

Castle stuck the muzzle of his highly-illegal automatic weapon against the back of the man's head and whispered, "Hands behind your head, fingers interlaced or I'll blow you fucking head off!" Castle grabbed one hand like Esposito would do and slipped the plastic cuff over his wrist and tightened it cruelly. The he grabbed the other hand but slipped the cuff under the man's belt before tightening it around his wrist.

He pushed the man against the door and waited. Castle could tell when his prisoner was going to yell some thing as the door was unlocked. He'd taken a deep breath but Castle slammed him through the door just as it was opening.

A surprised man in Middle Eastern garb complete with burnoose was knocked back as Castle shoved the man in. His prisoner tripped over the other man as Castle took in the tableau laid out before him.

Castle absorbed the scene in seconds and knew that this was where they planned on executing their version of 'justice'. He didn't see Alexis but instead saw a 'staged scene' complete with black flag with green Arabic script emblazoned across it, two surprised men dressed as the other one was. One of them held a sword.

It was the bright blue plastic tarp that finally shook him from his reverie. It was put there to make cleanup easier. Well, he'd see that it got put to good use.

He called out his daughter's name both as a call for her to answer and as a battle cry. Gone was the doughy insecure writer of other people's thinly disguised exploits. Gone was the man who cried 'Apples, Apples!' when Beckett twisted his ear. Richard Castle had left the building. In his stead was a pissed-off and distraught father who's only thought was to find his child, his responsibility, his one fragile link to immortality.

He swung his weapon off his shoulder and shot the man who'd opened the warehouse door in the chest and the cuffed man in the back of his knee. He'd read once, maybe he imagined it, he couldn't be certain and couldn't be bothered with citing a source, that 'you should never leave an enemy in your rear'. So much for theory.

The man with the sword charged him, crossing the twenty feet between them in record time. Castle, having practiced it a hundred times without loading the weapon, switched the selector switch from 'single' to 'stitch' and fired a 3-round burst twice. He was unprepared for the muzzle climb as the 3 9mm rounds hit the sword wielder in the stomach first and then punched holes in the air as the muzzle climbed toward to ceiling.

Shit! The man was down and screaming something but time dilation was in full force and for Castle the sound was slow and low and inconsequential. He focused his attention on the remaining Jihadist and fired again, missing entirely and cursing his poor skills.

His opponent was equally untrained. He was clerk in a clothing store but was a religious man and prayed for guidance as he fired his weapon at the crazy man who was supposed to be trussed up like a goat to the slaughter but was anything but.

The clerk fired his entire magazine at the crazy djinn who appeared to be unstoppable. He was as untrained as Castle and equally unprepared for the muzzle climbing up to the warehouse ceiling. But he was luckier and that's all that counted.

Someone had set his shoulder on fire and knocked him down to add insult to injury. Castle lost his grip on his gun and lay on his back, stunned, on the filthy concrete floor of the warehouse.

His antagonist advanced across the warehouse floor, a smug grin on his face. He had won! What tales he would tell and how proud his family would be of him. No one would doubt his courage or dedication to the Cause. Not when he brought them the tape of the infidel's dead body surrounded by martyrs to the Cause.

He raised his AK-47 and pulled the trigger. _**Click**_. He was untrained and thus didn't know that the Soviet Union's everlasting gift to the Third World had a basic design flaw. It fired from the open bolt position and thus the shooter never knew when the last round fired had truly been his last. Most experienced shooters swore they could tell by sound or weight. This idiot just kept pulling the trigger.

Castle had raised his uninjured arm as if to ward off the bullet and heard the sound of the firing pin striking air. He fumbled at the waistband of his pants and pulled out the pistol he'd taken from the dead man and raised it and fired.

Or tried to. He hadn't released the safety. He thumbed off the lever and muttered an oath when the magazine fell from the pistol grip as designed and bounced off his chest. His thumb found the safety and moved the lever and he pulled the trigger of the empty weapon in defiance.

_**Blam!**_

Castle giggled and thanked God that the idiot had violated all safety protocols and had one round 'up the spout'. His target didn't laugh because he didn't have the brains to. Nope, they were almost all over the floor of the warehouse.

'That tarp was a dandy idea. I need help. Where's my damned phone?'

He called Jordan Shaw, now speed dial #5 on his hit parade of hot mommas, and muttered something about coming and cleaning up the mess. He gave her a general idea of where he was and than closed his eyes and gave in to exhaustion.

* * *

><p>Warehouse<p>

By the time Shaw got her people organized and on the scene, Richard Castle was gone. The NYPD had responded to reports of several shots fired and had secured the crime scene and taken three 'John Does' to the morgue and taken two wounded, one trussed up like a cop had done it, to the nearest hospital.

Shaw cursed the police, Richard Castle, the terrorists but saved the most vicious and profane for the douche bags from Homeland Security who'd somehow gotten jurisdiction and were keeping everyone away.

"Agent Fallon, where is Richard Castle? He called me from this location. He's going into Witness Protection and…"

"You should have told us, involved us, Shaw, instead of putting a cloak over everything. You risked his life needlessly. He's not yours, anymore, Shaw, he's _ours. _We will protect him. We need him to help us make sense out of all this. You have no need to know."

"He's already been reported as dead, Fallon. How's that going to work out? He's here because those assholes told him they had his daughter! Let me at least see him, talk to him – "

Fallon held up his hand and then answered his cell. He looked long and hard at Jordan Shaw and then disconnected the call.

"That doesn't matter now. The police have already put out a bulletin that he's alive and sketchy information of the events. I'll make you a deal. Work with us and when we get what we need, he's yours. In the meantime, I think Mr. Castle's wounds proved mortal and despite all the best efforts, he expired. That work for you?"

Jordan Shaw weighed her options and decided this was the best she could expect.

"Yeah. He was going to have an accident tonight anyway. Fallon, you know about him and Detective Beckett, right? I think she needs to be brought in. She's like a dog with a bone and if we don't show her a body, she'll start digging and we don't need that. It will make things easier all around. She can be Castle's bodyguard until we move him. What do you say?"

"Good point. You bring Beckett in. I'll be with our writer buddy at University Presbyterian. We have the entire floor secured. Don't dawdle, Agent Shaw."

* * *

><p>Beckett's Apartment<br>6:20am

For the second time pounding on her front door awakened her. Lanie had beaten her to the door and she heard excited voices, one shouted 'Praise the Lord' while the other reminded her of a sleeping Beckett.

"I'm awake. Who could sleep through the damned Second Coming. Lanie, what's up with all this – "

"He's alive, Kate! Castle's alive and in the hospital. Shaw's gonna take you there so get dressed and plan on taking a bag 'cause you gonna be there for a while, hear me?" When Lanie got excited, her Philly roots showed up in her speech.

.


	4. Chapter 4

The next-to-the-last set up chapter. More like setting up the characters for the main event. Not a snuff story. I detest how the writers portray Castle as a namby-pamby whiner (Kitten is appropriate sobriquet) and Kate as some broken woman with so little faith in people. If it's not canon, tango sierra.

OM

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><p><em><span>No Matter Where You Go<span>_ by Oldest Man

Chapter 4

En route to University Presbyterian Hospital

The morning traffic was murder and Shaw resorted to using her lights and siren. Kate sat in the passenger seat clutching her bag and wondering when she was going to wake up from this nightmare. First he's reported killed and then he's alive but in critical condition.

"Tell me again, Jordan. Tell me what you know." She was a detective and everything about this smelled like lies and she wanted to breathe the fresh air of the truth.

"Everything we told you this morning was true – at that time. Castle called me after I left your place and said he needed a clean up crew because he'd made a mess." She chuckled and glanced at Kate who was hardly amused.

"Well, it was funny at the time. I got there and Fallon waved me off saying that Homeland Security had jurisdiction. While we had our little turf war, the NYPD spilled the news that Rick was alive but seriously injured."

Kate glanced at Shaw, immensely disturbed by her use of Castle's first name. _Rick_ was what she called him in the few moments of near-intimacy she'd allowed. Well, _Rick_ was the only name she'd ever call him from now on. Too close this time. To close to losing him. Jordan Shaw had no right calling him by his first name. He was taken. He just didn't know it yet.

"So brief me on the situation as it is now. What's the game plan and how do I fit in? I'm NYPD not FBI or Homeland Security and besides, the 26th has police jurisdiction over this."

"He's in surgery for a GSW to the left shoulder. A through and through but the EMTs said it was clean – no bones or major vessels were compromised. He was damned lucky this morning. What possessed him to take on a sleeper cell of Jihadists is beyond me. The man has a death wish – "

"No, Agent Shaw. The man has a daughter. She means more to him than anything, including his own life and he thought she was in danger. You're a profiler, for God's sake, and this comes as a big surprise to you? Anyone who spent more than 10 minutes with Rick and his daughter could have told you that. There's nothing more precious to him than his family."

"You two share that trait, Detective. Your mother's reopened murder investigation is my case in point." Shaw believed as Castle did, that Beckett's mother's unsolved murder was the single most formative event in her life. "Rick called it your 'magnificent obsession' and he admired how you wouldn't let go even after all these years."

"He talked to you about that? I suppose the Bureau has a file he wanted or something?" She tried to keep the scorn out of her voice. One of Castle's most aggravating characteristics was his penchant for relying on 'people I know' to cut through the fat and get to the meat. Or to get his own way.

"He asked me to look at a file once. Everything about the victim's identity had been scrubbed. It was a photocopy of the file and it had been heavily censored. When I asked him about it he just said 'it's personal, just leave it at that'. He wanted me to see if I could write a profile on the killer but I was at odds with his conclusions – apparently _your_ conclusions, about the killer. I thought it was more than one killer but he said 'no' and took the file back."

"That's unimportant now, Agent. Things are changing in my life and I've had to reevaluate my priorities. I have a new obsession now, and yeah, it's 'magnificent'. But why am I here _now_? Why not earlier? Rick and I are partners. I should have been in on this from the beginning."

"He wanted you kept out of it for a reason, Detective. I don't know why, just that he wanted you 'clean'."

"That makes no sense at all."

"Well, it made sense to him. The FBI agreed for different reasons. If you were involved, it would complicate matters if and when it came time to take him into the program. His reasons are his but ours were purely operational."

* * *

><p>University Presbyterian Hospital<p>

A Homeland Security Agent intercepted them when they got off the elevator on Castle's floor.

"Ladies, I'm sorry, this is a restricted floor. There are no patients here. Please return to the first floor lobby and ask for your patient – "

Kate flashed her NYPD ID and told the agent that she was authorized per Agent Fallon. The agent checked a clipboard, nodded and then directed them to the nurses' station for 'photo ID' so they didn't have to go through security each time they got on the floor.

Kate and Shaw were quickly photographed and then handed clip-on badges with their photos attached. "These are good anywhere on the floor although I imagine you'll be in Mr. Castle's room as opposed to other locations. He's in recovery and will be brought to his room, 107, any minute now." He pointed out the room, directly across the hall from where they stood.

"There'll be an armed agent posted at the stairwells, the elevator and also outside Mr. Castle's door. All staff is Homeland Security except the surgeon. The coffee pot's in the lounge down the hall. Meals are your problem and we require that you check in when leaving or entering the floor. Just wave your badge at the scanner beside the elevator."

He turned back to his paper work, mentally dismissing the cop and Fibbie.

"Coffee sounds great, Kate. He'll be in the room shortly. I suppose we can start the conversation with what you're not thinking so loudly about - his destination, right?"

"Why does he have to leave at all? The cell was crushed, right? He got them all?"

"Intel told us there were _only two_ cell members unaccounted for but Kate, do the math. One bound and shot, one dead in the doorway, two dead on the warehouse floor and one dead on the street. That's _five!_ They recruited outside the cell for this. We don't know how many more there might be. Castle's testimony will give us a conviction and leverage. His safety comes first."

"What about his family? How can you do this to them?" She knew that this was a sticking point with Castle and that's why he cooked up the plan that worked – ultimately – but had 'too many players on the field'.

"He didn't want to disrupt his daughter's life and education and he has no idea of the timeline this operation might have. He made the best decision he could under the circumstances. If he can be resurrected at some point in the future, we will, but if not – he stays dead and lives his new life in obscurity. It's not perfect but it's the best deal we could make to ensure his survival."

"Jordan, I want to go with him. I love him and I want to spend the rest of my life with him. I've lost time with him because of my job, my obsession, poor timing and bad judgment. I won't let him go alone. It's not right to cast him out…"

She stopped talking and stared over Jordan's shoulder at the gurney being wheeled into room 107.

"We're not finished with this, Jordan, but right now I need to see how he is. Don't run off without talking to me."

She followed the gurney into the room and watched as they gingerly transferred Castle to the hospital bed, hooked up an IV and then put DVT embolism sheaths on his calves and left her with the doctor.

"He's fine," he squinted at her badge, "Detective Beckett. The shoulder will heal in about a month then he'll need physical therapy. The knee – that's a whole 'nother ballgame. His patella is broken and he's torn ligaments in his knee. Walking on it certainly didn't help things. That's going to require another surgery and the more physio so we're looking at 6-8 weeks for physical recovery and another month or two of therapy, maybe longer. The ortho doctor will be the judge of that."

"So he can't really be moved around anytime soon, right?" She was looking for a timeframe, something tangible to begin her plan around.

"He can be transported wherever they want him by ground without it being life threatening although it will be uncomfortable for him. Air travel is definitely out for now. Do you know where they're taking him?"

"No. I'm his partner and they probably will tell me last. It's the way the Feds operate, unfortunately."

"Well, I guess I'd better explain all the gadgetry. He's on IV drip with a pain mix for now. We don't want him rolling around and tearing up all my needlework so we've got him dosed to sleep through the night. After he wakes and is feeling a little more human, we'll get him up on his feet and walking around as best he can on that knee. He can have water but nothing else. Clear liquids until we're sure we won't have to go back in. Tomorrow night he can have a normal tray. Oh, and don't worry about the bathroom. He's got a catheter."

Kate muttered '_Too much information'_ under her breath and the doctor just smirked.

* * *

><p>It was a considerable time later that Kate's cell phone vibrated in her pocket and jerked her from a daydream. It was Lanie Parish and Kate almost sent it to voice mail but took the call.<p>

"Lanie, I'm in his room. He's sleeping off the effects of the anesthetic and he's on a pain drip. He'll need physiotherapy on the shoulder but it's the knee that's worrying them. He 'broke his patella' and tore some tendons and he's looking at another operation his doctor said. Listen, I'll call you with any changes but right now I'm exhausted and – "

"Martha Rogers collapsed when she was told he was – "

"Oh, God, no. What about Alexis?"

"She's taking it hard. First her dad's reported injured and then 'died' of complications and then her grandmother goes down and is in the hospital. How do you think she's taking it? I'm here at the hospital with them and I'll stay until you can get here. It'll look suspicious if you're not here, Kate. Besides, you promised Castle you'd look after Alexis if – well, you promised."

She looked over at Castle, asleep thanks to chemicals and told Lanie she'd be there as quickly as possible. She didn't think things could possibly get more complicated.

She ran into Jordan Shaw in the corridor and explained where she was going and why and Shaw commented that it made good sense and that she'd call or text her if there was any need for her to return.

"Jordan, if he 'disappears' without me talking to him, you'd best consider Witness Protection for yourself. I mean it. You have my number. Call me the instant he awakens. I'll come back immediately otherwise, I'll be back as soon as I can."


	5. Chapter 5

Usual Disclaimers apply. This is the last of the truly angsty chapters and from here on out it's a story of Kate's Quest, Alexis' life and how our hero adapts and accepts his new station in life. One problem though: Kate's stubborn and won't give up her newest quest - finding her lost love. Enjoy it. It's different and I just got tired of watching these two walk around with their heads up their fannies insofar as relationships go.

OM

* * *

><p><strong><em>No Matter Where You Go<em>** by Oldest Man

Chapter 5

Beckett hailed a cab and soon was lost in traffic and in her thoughts. Martha down when Alexis needed her the most. Alexis devastated by the loss of her father and the collapse of her grandmother. Kate felt torn between Castle and his family. She'd promised him that she'd 'look after' Alexis if – and she would – because in a sense _something bad had happened to him_.

Her mind was flitting from subject to subject and it stopped its frantic wandering and settled on one subject: Castle's body. If he died of his injuries, how were the authorities going to come up with a body? She felt the immediate on-set of one of her tension headaches, the kind that started at the base of her neck and spread throughout her scalp and finally felt like her head was in a vise, throbbing in time with her heartbeat.

Kate finally found Martha's room and was relieved to see both Kevin Ryan and Javier Esposito standing outside the doorway looking like angry wolves protecting their young from a predator.

"Hey, guys. I'm sorry for – " She got no further than that before she was practically engulfed in Esposito's hug, her face held against his chest. "I'm so sorry, Kate. I know what he meant to you. He was special and we're all going to miss him. Alexis is in with Martha and they're both asleep. Lanie is down the hallway with Martha's doctor getting the 4-1-1 on her. Whatever you need, Ryan and I will do."

She'd forgotten that her two team mates weren't 'in the loop' and that they had to stay 'outside'. There was an old Russian proverb that had lodged in her mind from her time in Kiev – _If two people know a secret, it remains a secret only if one of them is dead._

She accepted a hug and the usual 'sorry for your loss' comments from Ryan and then took a huge breath and chuffed it out and squared her shoulders and went into Martha's room.

"Kate! Thank you for coming and for taking care of Alexis. I know you must be so tired from all this. Please – sit down but quietly. She just got to sleep, poor dear."

Martha was sitting up in a raised bed and Alexis was cuddled up against her side sleeping. Martha looked old, haggard even, and Kate sat down and wondered just how she could pull off the acting job of a lifetime knowing her audience of one was a pro and would see right through it.

"Kate, he loved you so much and you brought him such joy. Both Alexis and I think of you as family and now – families need to stick together and be mutually supportive. First, I want to hear the truth about what happened to my son not the garbage I've been spoon-fed by those idiot officials from the commissioner's office."

Beckett had no choice. She took a breath and began with exactly what had happened up to Agent Shaw's departure from her apartment. After that, she was on the thinnest possible ice and she knew it.

"Martha, tell me what the team told you and I'll try and correct anything or bring you up to date on parts that are incomplete. "

When Beckett finally walked out into the corridor from Martha's room she was mentally exhausted and physically spent. The woman should have been a police detective. She asked simple but cogent questions, picked apart the answers and made her own suppositions, finally ending it with a simple summary statement.

"So Richard died protecting his daughter and his loved ones from a threat that was very real. I have never been more proud of my son than I am now. I know people think he's a vapid, hedonistic playboy but that's all a façade to sell his damned books. I always thought he should have been a buccaneer or a pirate. The role would have suited him."

Beckett had made her excuses to leave a still-sleeping Alexis and her grandmother saying she had an interview with the FBI agents handling the incident. In reality she needed to run, to escape the claustrophobia that had settled about her in that tiny room. She needed to get out and breathe air that wasn't tainted with the sorrow that seemed to fill Martha's room. She needed to see Castle, to see him breathe, to watch him sleep, to ensure he still lived. She had promised to return as soon as she could and then she propelled herself from the room and left the hospital, ignoring her team mates and their petty concerns.

* * *

><p>She stood outside the hospital just breathing. Her headache that had subsided was now back full-force. She hailed a cab and told the driver "University Presbyterian Hospital" and settled back and watched the passing scenery and the people who were going about their lives never realizing how lucky they were.<p>

It had started to rain and so she ran into the hospital lobby, pulled her photo ID badge from her purse and got on the elevator.

Jordan Shaw was waiting for her as the elevator opened on Castle's floor.

"Thank God you're here. Why aren't you answering your cell? He's awake and mad as hell. He told Fallon the plan worked and he's leaving AMA. Kate, you have to calm him down and get him to listen to reason. It's not safe for him to be out in public. The sleeper cells are still out there and all this publicity would make him their #1 target if he 'reappears from the dead'."

She fished her cell phone out of her purse and said several unladylike things that brought the tiniest smile to Shaw's face. "I guess it wasn't on the charger long enough. Battery's dead. Let me try and reason with him. Give us some time and I'm sure I can calm him down. I won't mention his mother's condition but say I saw them both."

"Good. Then you and I and Fallon had better have a sit-down. There are so many damned holes in his plan that – crap, Beckett, how are we going to come up with a body, for instance?"

"I thought about that on my way over to see Martha. I'll bet Fallon's either got a look-alike or he'll come up with some story about how the terrorists have stolen the body or some equally dumb explanation. Let me calm down the patient and then we'll see what reasonable plan we can come up with."

Beckett walked into Castle's room totally unprepared for what she saw. Castle had pulled out his IV and, she winced, his catheter and was standing there in his pants, bare-chested, loudly complaining about how the government had stolen his shoes. The way he was weaving and clutching on to the rails of the hospital bed proved that he was in no condition to be out of bed and certainly not able to sign himself out AMA.

"Rick, this is stupid. Lie back down and let me get a nurse to reset your IV. Oh, Crap, Castle, you're in so much trouble now. I think you've pulled some stitches or something. C'mon, please just sit down for me."

The bandage over the exit site of the gunshot wound was soaked with dark red blood and she needed to get him into bed before he did more damage to himself.

"Castle! Stop fighting me! Let me help you. Calm down. Everything's going to be okay if you just – " He'd turned and Kate gasped. The front bandage was also soaked in blood. Castle started to say something but his eyes rolled up into the back of his head and he fell against her.

"I need some help in here!" She was holding Castle up with her hands around his waist and two nurses came in and helped her get him into bed.

* * *

><p>8 hours later<p>

When Castle woke, he tried to rub his forehead but couldn't move his arm more than 6 inches or so. Try as he might, he couldn't open his eyes and so sleep reclaimed him.

The next time he was awakened by someone holding his hand and crying. He mumbled something and tried to unstuck his tongue from the roof of his mouth.

'_My God, the Persian cavalry has decamped in my mouth and allowed their mounts to shit all through it!' _Even stoned on morphine Castle was one to turn a phrase.

He cracked open on eye and croaked out 'Be-utt'. He tried wetting his lips but the tongue still wouldn't cooperate. He tried again, louder this time. _'BEH – gutt!'_

She jolted upright and smiled. "You're finally awake! Don't try to talk until I get you some water. Oh, Rick, you scared the crap out of us! I thought you'd died for real this time. Now, don't try and drink too much. You can have as much as you want but not all at once, okay?" She put the drinking straw between his dry lips and he moaned in appreciation as he drank down the cold liquid.

"That's enough for now. More in a few minutes, I promise. You tore some of the surgeon's handiwork and they fixed it back up but you're in bed for another few days."

He couldn't really focus yet although his tongue was free. "What about Alexis and Mother?"

She begged the question, delaying while she put together a response that wouldn't send him into orbit. "Here, drink some more and I'll bring you up to speed."

"K – Kate – what aren't you telling me? Oh, God, they got Alexis, didn't they?" He looked about frantically, hoping to see a redheaded gift from God but they were alone.

"She's fine, Rick. She's with Martha and the boys. Listen, you have to calm down and let me talk for a while, okay? You just lay there and calm down and I'll go through everything that's happened since you left the Precinct."

"'Kay. More water please? Tastes like a dumpster in a my mouth."

"Sure. Now, after you left the Precinct you got ambushed by the remainder of the terrorists from the bomb plot. You did really good, honey. You took them _all_ out and we're all safe. They told you they had Alexis but they didn't. Esposito and Ryan brought 'little Castle' back from Princeton. She's with your mother and they're both safe. Alexis was curled up next to your mom sound asleep when I left them."

"Good. But why am I handcuffed to you, Detective? It was self-defense. Any sane man could tell that." He looked down at his cuffed wrist and followed the chain to her wrist where she wore a matching 'bracelet'. Was he under arrest?

"Am I under arrest, Detective Becket? Do I need a lawyer?"

"It's so you don't go anywhere without me, you big dolt! I came back from checking on them and found you trying to check yourself out AMA and you were bleeding like – look, don't try that again and I'll uncuff you."

"Why, Kate Beckett, there is a dark side to you! I knew you'd let it out someday. Do you have a dominatrix outfit? I love those thigh high leather boots with the 6-inch heels and umphhh - "

She shut him up with a kiss that made her wish she did have such an outfit and that they were in her apartment, alone, and –

"I love you too, Beckett." She straightened up and for an instant Castle saw the fear and uncertainty in her expression and he averted his eyes, letting Kate have her private moment. He was desperate to change his utterance into a joke, anything to purge that look from her face.

"I meant, Mistress Beckett." He tried to make a joke of it.

"Don't. Don't you dare turn what you said into a joke. It's not funny."

"Kate, I – I'm sorry. Blame it on the good drugs. I know how you feel and I'm sorry I – no, I'm not sorry. Damn it, Kate. It's been three fucking years and if you don't know how I feel by now then you're the idiot, not me. I do love you and you can't make me change how I feel. I know you're still looking for Mr. Right but I'm that guy."

"I know."

"I don't need any more research. I have tons of research. I've got 3 _unpublished _Heat novels in my damned desk drawer and I could write 3 more with what I got. I just wanted to spend time with you and show you I'm – "

"Deaf, Castle. You're deaf. I said 'I know' that you're the guy. I've known it for some time. I just wasn't ready to make a commitment but I almost lost my chance at the brass ring, baby, and it was an ice water enema. I love you, too. And no matter where you go, I will find you. Just like the movie, Castle, if it takes a thousand years, I will find you. Just don't go calling yourself Uncas, the Last of the Mohicans, okay? Don't make fun of me."

She was frustrated and holding back tears but was desperate to make him understand and believe her. This wasn't junior high or high school. She was way past that. He wouldn't leave her like Royce or Sorenson or Davison. He _was_ her 'one and done'. He'd proven it time after time but she'd been too afraid of his history and her own.

"Just don't jump off any cliffs, Kate. We're free and clear. You said I got them all. I don't remember anything after hitting the curb at the river, just bits and pieces that don't make any damned sense but if I got them all, if they're both dead or in custody then we're home free and – "

"There were _five_ of them, not two. The intel the FBI had was wrong. They either recruited others or there are more cells out there just waiting. We'll talk about that later. Right now, I want to talk about _us."_

"Kate, there won't be an 'us'. I have to go away, stay away and never come back. Once they pick my brain for all the intelligence, limited though it may be, in my head, they'll cut me loose in Witness Protection. Look, I've taken steps, legal ones – 'in anticipation of death' – to take care of Mother, Alexis and – and you. You'll need resources outside of the mainstream if you're going to find your mother's killers and bring them down. That's what I meant by – "

"NO! I won't let you disappear from my life. Not now. Not when we've finally found ourselves on the same page. I can't lose you now. I'll go with you. I'll disappear with you. Don't leave me, Rick. Don't."

"Kate, you have a life here, a job, a career, your dad, your Quest. You can't leave all that behind. You'd miss it and eventually you'd begin hating your choice and me, the guy who you made it for. No, as much as it tears my heart out, Beckett, you have to stay behind. You have to live the life you were meant to live. And – and you have to mete out justice to those who took your mother from you. I'm going to miss you, Muse, but then you already know that."


	6. Chapter 6

A pivotal chapter. Lots of questions answered and many more raised. They're on the same page finally but not together. Rainbows and unicorns on the way. I don't do unhappy endings. Life's got enough of them to go around.

Thanks for the great reviews and responses. I appreciate them.

Disclaimer: I wouldn't be bored and retired if I owned them.

OM

* * *

><p><em><span>No Matter Where You Go<span>_ By Oldest Man  
>Chapter 6<p>

University Presbyterian Hospital  
>Room 107<p>

She'd never been this confused and yet more certain of what she wanted to do. She wanted to go under the radar and into Witness Protection with Rick Castle. She wanted to spend the rest of her life with the man who had made her such a better person just being in her life. She wanted the whole damned shooting match – marriage, children, the house – all of it. It was a new concept for her and she found the new paradigm unsettling but exciting.

Jordan Shaw came into the room carrying a cup of coffee and handed it to Kate and glanced at a sleeping Castle. A nurse followed her and checked on Castle's vitals and Jordan positioned herself between Beckett and the nurse. Kate took a long sip of the strong brew and sighed. It had been a hell of a day.

"Thanks, Jordan. I needed that." She took another long sip and sighed again. It was good coffee.

"Thanks for getting him back in bed. He's added a few more days to his recovery but then you'll be able to return to your normal life when he's picked up by the US Marshal's Service. I know how hard this must be for you, Kate, and I hope you know that we're all grateful for everything you and Castle have done for the City and the country. I just wish – "

"I'm going with him. I just can't let him go alone. I love him enough to turn my back on everything just to be with him. I think of this as a fresh start for both of us. We're finally on the same page and it's wonderful but I know it's going to be hard... We're both leaving … lives and people we love be…hind but it's necessary. He's worth it. Someday we'll come -". Her chin rested on her chest and Shaw watched Kate as the drugged coffee took effect.

"I just wish there was another way, Kate, I really do."

The nurse checked Castle's IV again and nodded to Shaw and said, "He's out. I'll notify the Marshals. It's a shame, really. It's so unfair."

"Agent Smalling, do your job and maintain your emotional distance. She was my friend. They both were. She'll never forgive me for what I've done but it's better this way. A clean break and no painful goodbyes. Life's unfair, Smalling. If you want fair, quit the Bureau and go into sports."

* * *

><p>Kate woke up several hours later and immediately sensed that everything was wrong. She was dizzy and her stomach felt like it was on a roller coaster. She looked over at Rick and –<p>

She threw open the hospital room door, weapon in hand, scanning the empty corridor. The security guards at the elevator were gone. There were no nurses. She glanced up at the clock on the wall at noted that it was 3:30 and since it was dark outside, she assumed 3:30am. She checked the nurses' lounge and the coffee pot was cool and clean. Everything was clean.

It hit her like a ton of bricks. She'd been drugged and they'd taken Castle. She remembered snippets of her conversation with Shaw especially her last words as Kate 'fell asleep': _I just wish there was another way._

* * *

><p>Three days later<br>Compton Memorial Gardens

The memorial service and the interring of the 'ashes' were all very tasteful. She stood with the family as a priest read from Psalms and then it was over.

"Kate, darling, please come back with us. We have some things to discuss, you and I – and Alexis. There are papers to sign and lawyers to deal with and – " Martha stopped talking and dabbed at her eyes with a hanky that she'd twisted and shredded during the service.

"Martha, of course. Alexis, is there anything I can do for you? Anything at all?" She knew what the answer would be. Castle had raised an amazing daughter practically by himself and that was amazing also. But she didn't expect what Alexis said.

"Yeah, Kate, stay between me and my mother. I can't believe she brought a date to my Dad's service. I can't believe I'm related to her. Thank God Daddy's genes were dominant. Just – just stay between us, please? I don't want to make a scene and – and hear Daddy's laughter from Heaven."

OK, so she hadn't expected quite _that_ response.

"Dear, your father would have laughed at all this ceremony. He once told me, after your mother left him for that 'director', that if I outlived him he wanted to be cremated and his ashes dumped into whatever vat of ink they were using to print his last book. He would have been so bored and restless even at his own funeral."

"That sounds exactly like Rick. I surprised he didn't write instructions in his will for a party to end all parties." Kate knew the ashes were probably faked but kept up appearances for the two Castle women.

"Well, Kate, he did leave a tidy sum to be used for just such an occasion. He wanted all his 'real' friends to have a good time and tell tall tales about him."

"I miss him. I keep waiting for him to step out from behind a tree and yell 'Gotcha'!" Alexis said. "I'm staying home for a while. The school's been very understanding and I can repeat the semester without penalty later. I just don't want to leave Grams alone. We're family, all three of us. And his girls need to stick together and support one another until – "

Kate hugged the teenager and whispered "I'm so proud to be counted as a Castle girl. We were getting there, Alexis, honestly."

The three women walked to the line of limos and drove back to the city.

* * *

><p>Unknown location<p>

"I don't give a damn who you are! I want access to a telephone. I have a daughter, a mother, a woman who just told me she loved me. You can't do this to me, damn you!"

"You'll have to talk to the head of the detail, sir. I'm just your physical therapist. My job is to get your shoulder back in shape and then after arthroscopic surgery on your knee, work on it to get you up and on your feet. Maybe after that you'll get to make a call. I don't know."

"Well, can you tell me where the hell I am? Can I talk to whoever's in charge of this Chinese fire drill?" He was getting louder and angrier by the second.

"Sir, I can't tell you any of that. You'll have to – "

"Talk to the head of the detail. Yeah, I got that the first time. Go get him. I'll wait. I'm not going anywhere."

An hour later a disgruntled Castle – correction – a disgruntled _Alexander Richards_ – settled down enough to ask one question.

"So, I can never, ever, contact anyone from before, _ever_?

"I'm sorry, Alex, but the answer is no. It would endanger you and those you left behind. But I wouldn't say _never_. Things change and your situation is unique."

He'd been instructed to leave a little 'wiggle room' for this Protectee. They needed his cooperation for some reason. He was also considered a VIP and would get first class placement when he recovered from his injuries.

* * *

><p>Three months later<br>Homicide Squad Room  
>12th Precinct<p>

Beckett sat at her desk with just the hint of a smile on her face. She'd been by the post office box she'd rarely used until after Castle had – until she'd begun using the money Castle had left her to – she sighed.

She missed him terribly and had finally tracked down Jordan Shaw and really tore her ass up. It didn't make her feel any better that Jordan hadn't pressed charges. The older woman had hardly put up a fight although her Fibbie buds had not been so kind. It didn't matter. Nothing did except finishing this damned Quest he'd charged her with. Then, no matter where he'd gone, she would find him.

Kate reviewed the reports she'd been mailed by the seven private investigators she'd hired using the funds Castle had left her for 'personal needs'. He'd also left her with a personal letter providing the names of eight private investigators that he said were 'beyond reproach and untouchable'. She'd used all eight but now there were only seven. The eighth, Jaime Gomez, had been shot down in an apparent mugging. Beckett knew he'd been getting close to finding a key piece of evidence for her Murder Board and after his murder, she'd directed the other P.I.'s to concentrate on the areas Jaime had been investigating.

There was also a small package addressed to her and mailed from Asheville, North Carolina that she'd set aside. It was wrapped in what appeared to be brown Kraft paper and the handwriting was distinctly feminine but there was no return address other than the postmark.

"Hey, Kevin, would you run this past the bomb squad for me?" Ryan and Esposito had been incredibly supportive of her Quest and she knew that was partly because of Castle.

"Sure thing, Boss. Any progress from the 'consultants'?" That's what he called her hired guns, her 'consultants'.

"I haven't reviewed this week's reports yet. Be patient, Kevin. This is a really cold trail they're following."

"I don't think Gomez would agree with you there, Kate." He only called her 'Kate' when they were dealing with her Quest. Otherwise it was 'Boss' or 'Beckett'.

There was a pause and then Ryan asked her the question she'd been asking herself ever since the announcement of the discovery of three unpublished Nikki Heat manuscripts and the release of the first on Friday. Gina had called Kate and begged her to attend the launch party.

"You going Friday night? We're all going to wear our dress uniforms and Lanie's wearing all black in memory of Castle. I think you should go."

"I always intended to. I just haven't been focused on much other than our cases and our little project."

Ryan wandered off to the Bomb Squad and Kate quickly reviewed the reports from her 'consultants'. Once again she was amazed at how Castle had thought – no, strike that – how Castle _thinks._

After the reading of the will, that in itself was a 'novel' experience, the attorney handed Kate a letter telling her that 'he instructed me to give you this letter and that if you didn't follow his instructions exactly, he'd come back from the dead and haunt you until you did. Something about constantly singing The Monkees Greates Hits off key in your ear…"

Kate had laughed out loud and taken the letter. It was more than a letter. It was a confession of undying devotion and a cashier's check for $700,000 made out to her. The letter instructed her to 'pursue your Quest for me – do it for you and for me – for _us, _Kate'.

And she had and she was so close. If half of the information uncovered to date were presented in evidence in court, a lot of high government officials were going to prison and several judges, lawyers and even a police captain or two were joining them. She didn't want the minnows, the tadpoles, the fingerlings. No, she wanted the big fish in the pond and she was so close.

Kevin put the package in front of her gently so as not to startle her. "Bombs said it's clean. A DVD of some sort."

"Thanks." She noted the postmark again and lack of return address. She took a knife from her desk drawer and slit the package open and pulled out a DVD.

Kate popped open the jewel case and saw the DVD 'Last of the Mohicans' and choked back a sob. She turned around to make sure she was actually alone and gently removed the DVD and smiled when she saw a second DVD behind the first. It was untitled but she just knew in her heart it was from _him._

She left a note on Ryan's desk saying she was leaving early and would catch them at the launch party since she was taking the next day off.

* * *

><p>Kate's apartment<br>New York City

The drive home seemed to take forever and she ran up the stairs to her apartment rather than wait for the cranky elevator. Kate kicked off her shoes and loaded the disc into the DVD player and sat back.

"_Hey, Kate, it's me, Alex. I got sneaky and figured that I could have a guest mail a package to you from their hometown and not give away the Program's secret location. I made a deal. I gave my word that I wouldn't tell anyone where I was and they'd spring me loose when it was safe and let me send out a letter to you but I decided a letter wasn't good enough. I wanted you to see that I am hale and hearty.._

_I can't tell you where I am but I can tell you that I'm missing the crap out my special girl. I hope all is well with you and the other ladies in my life._

_I've realized something, Kate. 'No man is an island' doesn't begin to touch the way I feel about you. I love you more than ever and I can't wait to be with you in the sun and surf. I hope the guys are supporting you and that someone's still bringing you your morning coffee. I miss going to bed with you and waking up and having one of your special breakfasts, baby._

It went on for another 15 minutes and she watched it several times and each time she cried. He looked wonderful and healthy. He was tan and so damned good looking in his 'Gamecocks' t-shirt that she paused the DVD and scooted up close to the TV screen to touch his image. It was better than nothing.

Her only concern was that he rambled and seemed unfocused with his words flying around flitting from topic to topic. Some things didn't make sense but she quickly realized it was Castle and all his deviousness at work. She restarted the DVD and sat down with a legal pad and pen and started taking notes.

He called himself _Alex. _The reference to the Donne poem threw her until she started thinking like he did. Name, _(Alex),_ location, (_Island), s_un and surf (_near the shore)._

She excitedly read over her notes. She'd totally missed the 'guest' reference and then thought about the bed/breakfast hints. They'd never been to bed together and she'd never made him breakfast. She really didn't cook.

Bed/breakfast…guest/bed/breakfast. He ran a Bed and Breakfast on an island near the Carolinas. Gamecock was a sports team mascot but which one and where were they located?

She called Ryan, the sports nut and he told her about the 'University of South Carolina Gamecocks' and she would have kissed him if he'd been there.

Castle was using the alias of 'Alex' and he ran a B&B on an island off the coast of South Carolina. She googled 'South Carolina beach-front B&Bs' and found more than she ever thought she would. The total was more than 130 and that killed her original thought of simply calling every damned one of them and asking for 'Alex'.

As much as she wanted to talk with him, be with him, she knew that she needed a better plan if they were going to be able to stay together. She had time and resources and she could always use the 'Consultants' when the Quest was complete.

She watched the DVD several more times and then wrapped herself in one of Castle's old shirts and sat down to watch the Last of the Mohicans. He was right. She always cried during the Promontory scene. The sound track was hauntingly beautiful and had prompted her promise to find him.

"No matter where, I will find you, Castle. I don't care how long it takes. I will find you."


	7. Chapter 7

Glad to see I've kept a few readers with me on this trip. Only a few, maybe 2 but probably 3, chapters to go including this one. Rick adapts to his new life, Beckett wraps up the Quest and she and Alexis begin another Quest in true Castle style.

**ROAD TRIP!**

Read and enjoy. I recommend going to you-tube and searching for Promontory. 8 minutes of classic Clannad and the video is interesting.

OM

* * *

><p><em><span>No Matter Where You Go<span>_ by Oldest Man

Chapter 7

Pawleys Island, South Carolina  
>6:30 am on a Tuesday in May<p>

Alexander Richards rolled over in his bed and stared out the open double doors towards the Atlantic Ocean. He'd been in the Program 6 months although most of the first 2 months had been spent on the 'mainland' in a rehab hospital. He gingerly rolled out of bed favoring his knee. He'd been jogging along the beach in the early morning two days before and had snagged on a half-buried piece of driftwood and had taken a tumble, twisting his knee.

"Crap." He'd slept in (for him) and started to stand when his knee reminded him that he hadn't used his elastic bandage. It was slightly swollen but he didn't feel any 'gravel' under the kneecap that would have meant another cortisone shot after a long drive to the doctor on the mainland.

He took a quick shower and then did his stretching exercises to loosen his knee as well as strengthen it. Alex took great care and didn't push past 'the burning point'. He'd been pleasantly surprised with his full recovery from the gunshot wound. Two puckered scars, one dime-sized high on his chest and one quarter-sized on his back, were the only souvenirs of being shot. The knee was a different story altogether.

The government had gleefully purchased a large late 19th century summer home and converted it into a bed & breakfast. They'd used a large chunk of _his_ money to do so with his permission, thus the glee. He still had a hefty bank balance in his accounts he'd set up early in his career under his real name, Richard Rogers. He also had money in two offshore accounts in the Caymans but only he and his lawyer knew about them. That's where he'd taken money from to fund Kate's Quest.

He only had guests 'off season' on the weekends. After Memorial Day weekend, he'd have all 3 rooms reserved through the end of the season. He made a mental note to hire a cook and a maid to cook and clean. There were less than 150 full-time residents on Pawleys Island so he'd have to go through an agency to get them.

By the time he'd showered, (and pulled on the elastic brace for his knee), made coffee, and fussed with his newly grayed hair, it was time to go check the mail. Using his alias, he'd subscribed to a clipping service and any and all references to the 12th precinct or its personnel that appeared in the press were sent to his post office box sometimes as often as once a week but he hadn't gotten any in the last two weeks.

He slipped on his shorts, a sweatshirt and sandals and strolled up the beach to the cluster of homes and businesses that although 'arrogantly shabby', constituted the bustling metropolis of Pawleys Island, one of the oldest resort areas on the East Coast.

"Morning, ladies." He waved to his only neighbors, a gay couple that moved in a few weeks before he had. They were nice people although the older one, Faye, looked like Arnold the Terminator with boobs, while her partner, Gayle, looked more like a gracefully aging Paris Hilton.

They were good neighbors. They minded their own business.

He walked into the post office/hardware store/pharmacy and asked for his mail as he did every morning since arriving here. He had a post office box but the post office didn't have any 'boxes' since Hugo visited. The USPS had never gotten around to sending them any more after Hurricane Hugo took out the old Post Office.

"Morning, Alex. How's the knee?" Mollie Spencer was the postmistress and pharmacist and her husband ran the hardware store. The entire place could have fit easily into the living room of his old loft in the city.

"Not bad. How's business?" It was their usual banter in the mornings. She was trying to convince him to let her give him his occasional cortisone shot when his knee acted up but so far he'd ducked her offers. Mollie with a needle in one hand and his knee in the other didn't work. He'd never seen glasses as thick as hers. For all important reasons, she was blind as a bat.

"Mrs. Jennings ran out of her heart pills and called me at 3am to refill her prescription. I just got back from the mainland with her stuff. We can't carry it out here so I drive over the north causeway and hit the Rite Aid. One of these days we'll buy a damned safe so we can refill prescriptions here. You got a ton of mail." She grinned and handed him one bulky envelope that he knew was from the clipping service and he chatted briefly and then walked back to the B&B.

He walked up to the house from the beach and dumped the mail on the table on the deck and went in to get coffee. He sat down at the table and opened the envelope and started sorting through the clippings which were in no order at all.

NYPD Homicide Detective Critically Injured

Dawn Raid Sweeps Up City Council Members, Judges

Financier Shot & Killed by Police Resisting Arrest

The headlines screamed out at him from the two week-old New York Post and kept bouncing through his mind as he read the rest of the article. He finished reading all the clippings and then walked up to his bedroom and unlocked a metal box that was in the bottom of his closet. He pulled out a prepaid cell phone he'd had Mrs. Spencer pick up for him on one of her prescription runs onto the mainland.

He had been told that he could only use the land line for the B&B because they recorded the conversations and numbers to ensure the identity of the caller. He didn't care. He knew who he was calling. Stupid rule.

He dialed a number he hoped he'd never have to use and waited impatiently while it rang in New York.

"This is Agent Shaw – " He interrupted her.

"Jordan, it's me. How – how is she? How bad is it? Should I come back?"

"Cas – Castle?" He heard the surprise in her voice and then the professional was back in her tone. "She's doing fine. She and Ryan were ambushed after the raid that swooped up all those fat cats. Ryan's back at work already but Beckett – Kate resigned from the Department."

"But why? Was she that badly injured? Is she under pressure? Is she in danger?"

"The corruption that cost her mother her life hit a little too close to home and she quit. We've got her covered 24/7 while the investigators sift through the mass of evidence she accumulated. She'll need to testify before the Grand Jury and that will take some time. She got the bastard that killed her mom so she's satisfied with the outcome. She seems relieved somehow, like she's put down a huge burden she'd been carrying."

"If you see her – tell her – never mind. I'm happy for her. At least something good came out of all this. How's the search for the missing cell members coming along?" He hoped to be able to go home soon. He missed Kate and his girls.

"No progress but we're still investigating. I'm sorry, Richard. I really am."

He didn't acknowledge her comment. He just disconnected the call and put the go-phone on the charger. He'd put it back and forget he had it unless something major occurred.

He went back downstairs and settled down on the deck and re-read the newspaper clippings. Maybe he'd send her another video and congratulate her on bringing down her mom's killer and asking her, no, telling her to move on and to forget about him. He didn't think this nightmare would ever end.

In his younger days he'd read about people being exiled but it had never had any impact on him until now.

New York City  
>Castle's Loft<br>A Tuesday in September

Kate was looking at herself in the bathroom mirror, holding a pair of scissors in her hand and a long lock of chestnut hair in the other. Martha and Alexis had both insisted that she move into the loft with them during her convalescence and she'd stayed well past that. They'd become a family sharing their losses and gaining support and comfort from each other in the process.

_'I need a change. This is getting me down. The Grand Jury has finally heard my testimony and now I'm 'free' except for the death threats and the fact that there are still elements of the financial conspiracy out there that want me dead. The FBI won't hang around forever since I've given them what they want. I can't put these people in danger. They're my family now.'_

"Kate, are you in there? Can we talk?" Alexis was worried about Kate's depression. After the mess with her Dad and then the shooting and then the loss of her father to a heart attack and the stress of the Grand Jury, Beckett wasn't bouncing back like her Dad thought she would. Alexis had developed a serious case of hero worship for her father and his – what? – girlfriend?

"Yeah, Lex, I'm in here. Just thinking about shaving my head."

"What? Oh, Kate, no! My Dad loves your hair. He always told me about all your hairstyle changes over the years."

"Just kidding. Maybe I'll trim some of it. It's getting to be a pain in the ass to manage."

"Let me put it up in a French Braid and it'll be out of your way for as long as you want it. And I want to talk to you about some things."

Kate had broken down and told Alexis about the Witness Protection Program one night when she'd been in a lot of pain from the gunshot wounds and Alexis had been at her wits' end and finally broke down in tears because she'd lost her father and was afraid Kate was next.

While Alexis brushed out Kate's hair in preparation for the braid, she blurted out her thoughts and fears and then she made her suggestion.

"Kate, you're going stir crazy and so am I. Gram's going to California to do some theater thing and I think - Kate, I think you and I need a road trip!"

"Lex, honey, wait here. I've got something to show you. Please don't be angry with me because I kept this from you. I told you your dad's alive and well but I never told you that I had a pretty good idea where. I wasn't being selfish I just didn't know what good it would do to know and not be able to go to him."

They watched the video he'd sent almost 6 months ago and they both cried. Alexis understood why she'd kept it. It was incredibly personal and her father had spilled his heart out after giving her his 'hints'.

They left the next morning but not before Kate traded her car in on a big RV and headed south telling Alexis 'we won't have to worry about motels, meals or the bathroom'. She let Alexis drive the big motor home as much as she wanted since her shoulder still ached and the angle of the grip on the steering wheel aggravated it.

The further south they drove, the warmer it seemed to get. They stopped at a small town in North Carolina and hit their equivalent of a department store for more summery clothes. She laughed out loud when Alexis told her quietly 'I've never been in a Walmart – it's kinda creepy, y'know?'

Kate bought a road atlas and they plotted their trip to the South Carolina coast. Alexis had brought her laptop and between Google and AT&T online Yellow Pages they had a fairly good list of B&Bs but Kate was adamant that they investigate all those on or near islands.

"Kate, the entire northern half of South Carolina is one long series of barrier islands. It might take us weeks – "

"We're on vacation, Lex. Time doesn't mean anything. I told him I would find him and by God I will. Now, find the northernmost island and let's plot a course. This beast is equipped with a Tom-Tom GPS and we'll do this all scientifically and thoroughly, Okay?"

She'd never seen Beckett in her 'cop mode' and she found it very intimidating. She could see why her father had to love this woman. She'd probably kill him if he didn't. This was going to be so interesting.


	8. Chapter 8

I debated posting this for a while until all the good writers got done posting their season finale fics but since I'm going on walk-about for a week of so, here ya go.

I think only two chapters left. Depends on how I edit them. Thanks to the 37 loyal readers who have followed me into the wilderness of my mind. I hope you all survive the trip. Enjoy

OM

* * *

><p><em><span>No Matter Where You Go<span>_ by Oldest Man

Chapter 8

KOA Campground  
>Somewhere in South Carolina<p>

Alexis pulled 'The Beast' into the slot following Kate's hand signals. She was good on the open highway, not so good in tight spaces like a 15-foot wide access park. When Kate signaled 'OK' with her thumb and forefinger,  
>Alexis shifted into park, set the emergency brake and then reached down and pulled a lever that lowered the jack stands that automatically leveled and anchored the big RV motor home.<p>

Kate climbed up the stairs and sat down on the couch and woofed a stray strand of hair off her face. "You're getting pretty good at this, Lex. If college doesn't work out for you, you could always get a job as a long haul trucker. You're a natural."

"No thank you. My butt goes numb after the first 100 miles or so. So explain to me again why we're stopping here instead of hitting the coast?"

"I've been rethinking my strategy and I think if we drive on down to Savannah and start from there, we'll hit the North Carolina border in a week or so. If we haven't found him, Lex, I'm sending you home and then I'll start over again. You can't register for classes from here, kiddo. And your grandmother's due in for a while and I know there are things pending for you."

"No! Absolutely not, Kate. I'm not giving up. College can wait. I don't even want to go back unless I've put this thing to rest. It's our Quest and I will not abandon it. I won't abandon you and I sure as hell am not abandoning a chance to find my Dad. Subject closed. Tomorrow morning we hit Savannah and begin our beach combing."

Beckett sighed and had to smile. The acorn hadn't fallen far from the tree. She had to get this strength and determination from her father because the only time she'd spoken to Meredith after Castle's 'death' had been announced, all the woman had done was go on and on about 'life goes on'. She'd written her ex-husband off as soon as she'd remarried and no longer got those fat alimony checks. Bitch!

"Fine. We'll play it by ear. The other reason I wanted to start at the Georgia line is that there are fewer seaside B&Bs and we'll make better progress and that's all psychological. I just wish – I just wished there was some other clue, some other hint that we might have missed. Let's look at the DVD again after _you_ make supper. It's your turn. And I do not want spaghetti again. I want something substantial. Something normal but not spaghetti."

Alexis got up, smiled, and walked down the landing to the open door and hopped down.

"Hey, the galley's that way, Lex!"

"Yeah, but the office is that way and that's where they have the list of take-out places. You want normal – how's Chinese or pizza sound?"

"Normal." She had to hand it to Castle. He's raised an interesting daughter. She had just the right mix of common sense and free spirit that made her maddening and endearing – just like her father.

* * *

><p>Pawleys Island, South Carolina<p>

Michael Ponti always enjoyed his random visits to check in with Alexander Richards. Of all the participants in the Program, Alex had the most interesting bio. He'd read all his books and passed them around to his squad mates. He'd been a real stickler for detail and accuracy and the Marshal found reading his novels not only relaxing but educational as well.

Now, as he turned down the barely paved road to the B&B, he quickly reviewed his checklist. Alex had folded and blended in with the locals and was both well-liked and even admired. He'd followed the rules, accepted things he couldn't change and didn't whine and cry every time he saw his

Program coordinator. And he kept a low profile and didn't make waves. That made him special.

He parked in one of several spots that used to be a 'front lawn' of sorts but was now a crushed shell parking area. He noticed other improvements in the place. There were new front steps, the walkway was freshly dressed with crushed sea shells and the plants along the front verandah were alive this time, unlike the first time he'd been here.

The front door was wide open leading to a foyer with a typical hotel registration desk arrangement. He rang the bell and waited a few minutes before walking through the 'living room', the formal dining room and then into the kitchen where he found his charge stirring a large pot and singing along with whoever was on his iPod. With earbuds in, he couldn't have heard the bell or a howitzer either.

"Alex!" He pulled on earbud away and then stepped back, escaping the spoonful of liquid the shot out when he turned abruptly, startled.

"Shit, Mike, don't _do_ that. Y'ever think about calling first? Maybe sending me a heads up so I could send all the hookers home? How ya been, Mike?"

"You need to pay attention to your surroundings, Alex. Suppose I'd been one of those nasty bedsheet fellas with a huge damned sword coming to take your head back to the mullahs? You have got to be aware of your surrounding!" He was pissed off because he liked this guy and didn't want to come down and find him dead someday.

"Lesson learned, Mike. I really wasn't thinking. You don't think those camel jocks are still gunning for me, do you? I mean, hell, I'm dead and have been for a long time."

"I'm just saying, watch your surroundings and be vigilant. Hell, at least lock the damned door when you're back here alone. Where's the help you were going to get?"

Alex looked sad for a moment. "I'm always alone, Mike. I won't live like I'm in prison. I don't think old Hadji Baba and his forty thieves are anywhere near finding me, if they're even looking. You guys have done too good a job of squirreling me away."

Castle turned down the heat under his pot and then opened the refrigerator and took out two beers, handing one to Ponti.

"So, other than not giving a shit about my personal safety, what else are you here to harass me about? Man, I thought having two ex-wives was a pain but you guys…" He went on and on for a few minutes until Ponti finished his beer and went for another.

"This is just a random check, Alex. I like what you've done with the place. For one thing, it's clean and for another, it looks like you really want to attract guests, not just be 'shabbily sophisticated' like the other idiots on this sand bar."

"Hey, it's still got its turn of the century charm. I just added some things, fixed things that might get someone hurt and me sued, y'know, _maintenance?"_

"Listen, Jordan Shaw called me. Beckett and your daughter are out and about and Beckett hasn't checked in like she said she would. I just wanted you to be aware and to maybe call Shaw if Beckett contacts you? You know she resigned from the department after busting that rats' nest open. She did a helluva job and I can't say I blame her for turning in her badge. But call Shaw if she contacts you. Jordan's worried."

"She has no idea where I am and I prefer it that way until the coast is clear but I will contact Shaw if she does get in touch with me somehow. Hey, hungry? Want to try my newest homemade stew? Everything comes from local sources and it smells a lot better than it looks." He changed the subject adroitly and both recognized that the lecture and the real reason for the visit had been delivered and discussed.

Ponti left shortly after having two bowls of 'stew', surprised that it was as good as it was. Alex didn't seem to him as the kind that would be comfortable in a kitchen but looks could be deceiving.

Castle turned on the CCTV that sat on the counter and doubled as a 'kitchen TV' and watched Ponti's car drive down the mostly sand lane. He'd known instantly when someone passed the perimeter of the property and he'd turned on the TV and watched as Ponti drove slowly down. He had relaxed when Mike got out of the car and he had put the 9mm back into the waistband of his shorts. His florid Hawaiian shirt would cover it as it always did.

The reaction when he'd been tapped on the shoulder was all for show. If Castle had learned one thing the hard way it was to never be unprepared or surprised again – ever.

Castle had watched Mike's reaction to his 'stew' and decided to add it to his menu after the agent had helped himself to another bowl without prodding. High praise, in a left handed sort of way.

One task on his To Do list out of the way and he moved on to the next. In the back of his mind he'd had an idea that maybe he'd set a theme for each room. There were only 3 guest rooms, each with its own bathroom and, of course, the master suite that Castle had appropriated since it was on the top floor and had the walkway going around the roof and the balcony he liked to sit on and 'catch the rays'.

He'd finished the first room and decided to call it 'the Floral Room' since it was one big gigantic greenhouse with many different kinds of local plants as well as some imported ones that were more exotic. It was the room most often requested by his weekend guests.

He glanced at his watch and wondered what Beckett was doing. Probably out with Lanie or talking with Alexis on the phone. He wondered how Alexis was doing in school after the trauma of his death? He hated hurting his baby girl but it had to be done as it was. He couldn't risk anyone coming after his daughter because they couldn't get to him.

Strangely at peace, he trudged up the steps to his suite of rooms and walked out onto the balcony to watch the waves and think. He hadn't written a thing in months and he had several ideas for novels that just screamed to be written. He'd had Mollie pick up a laptop for him on one of her trips to the mainland and on impulse, he opened it and began to type.

_Exile_ by Sebastian Rook

He had two chapters written by the time the light had failed and he saved his work and closed the laptop. He felt – satisfied.

Alex walked down stairs, did a quick perimeter check and then set the night ADT alarms that sounded throughout the building, in a small monitoring center in another state but also sounded in the alert center of the 'local' office of the Marshals Service that was at least located in the same state. He's was only two hours away from assistance – some comfort.

* * *

><p>Outside the KOA Campground<br>Somewhere in South Carolina

"You are sure the woman and girl are here?" One man asked another as he used the cherry from one cigarette to light another.

"Yes, I walked into the office to ask for a map and the daughter was in there inquiring about take-out restaurants. It is surely her. Her hair is unmistakable."

"Good. Get some sleep. I shall remain awake until 2am and then you shall relieve me. We will continue to follow them until they lead us to the man who killed our brothers in New York. We will make his woman and daughter watch and then we will leave them alive to grieve and mourn and spread the word that no one escapes the wrath of the Abu-Jihad."

'_Imshallah'._


	9. Chapter 9

_No Matter Where You Go_ by Oldest Man

Chapter 9

A few miles north of Savannah on the South Carolina coast

"I won't fail your father, Alexis. I will find him. And we will all be a family again. I don't know how, but we will."

"Well, if you don't stop for gas soon, we'll fail. And let me drive. I can see how your shoulder is aching."

"After we're out of Savannah traffic. No offense, but you drive like your dad in city traffic and The Monster isn't your Dad's sports car. Remember Columbia?"

"Kate, that's so not fair. That idiot was changing lanes every 30 seconds and when he pulled in front of me so suddenly, I had to slam on the brakes."

"And launched me right out of the bunk and onto a very unforgiving floor. I'll admit he was an idiot, but…"

"Okay, you drive. Just don't ignore the Tom-Tom this time. I do remember what happened when you ignored it and took a 'short cut' to catch I-95. It's a good thing we'd filled up right before – "

"Point taken. You stay awake and navigate. The damned thing's a Castle toy and it's not infallible."

"But it was right and you were – "

"Y'know, you're getting more like your father every day. Do I bring out the worst in you, too?"

"Maybe." Alexis snickered. She was her father's daughter and needling Kate about getting them lost in Deliverance Country was something her dad would have done. A lot.

* * *

><p>Pawleys Island, SC<p>

Rick was jogging along the wet sand being very careful of how his knee was acting. He knew he was pushing it but he felt compelled to do something to break the monotony and boredom. He could only play HGTV so long before he felt – weird.

"Morning, neighbor!"

Castle glanced to his left, clearly surprised by his jogging companion, the aging Paris Hilton look-alike, but not so old. And looking very athletic and toned in her spandex shorts and cut-off t-shirt. He covered his surprise with a grin. He'd misjudged her age. She was probably not even 40.

"Hey, morning. I'm Alex. Been renovating and preparing for the season. Don't have the staff the big boys have so it's just me and my trusty hammer."

"Yeah, I know. We can hear the pounding and swearing at all hours. It's funny, y'know? You don't seem gay at all but a single man opening a B&B – so, are you? Gay, I mean?"

His first impression was to be appalled but then he thought about it and snickered.

"Nope. Straight as an arrow. Just made a career change is all. Took all my savings and 401k and told the publishing business to go to hell and here I am."

"How about you? How'd you end up here?" He was curious and a little starved for human companionship.

"My partner and I – " Could she tell him the truth? He was an attractive man and she'd been alone since the divorce – .

"Hey, say no more. 'Judge not, lest ye be judged', right?" He didn't judge. Not his place.

Puffing along, she seemed in worse shape than he, she filled him in on her and her 'partner'. Her name was [puff, puff] Rhonda and she and [puff, puff] Lydia had come down here Boston to work on [puff, puff] 'personal issues'. She was [puff, puff] divorced as was Lydia [puff, puff, oh God, cough, cough].

"Let's stop and let you catch your breath. I tore up my knee and I'm really not pushing it yet so slow works for me. I'll bet you smoke…" He laughed because he really had been having cravings for a cigarette since coming to Pawleys Island.

"Yeah. Want one?" She reached under her cut-off t-shirt and pulled out a crumpled pack of Marlboros and a lighter.

"I don't even want to think about where you keep those, Rhonda. I shouldn't. It's been years and my dau- doctor would have a fit."

"I'm down to 5 a day but Lydia smokes like a chimney. So, busy for dinner? We're having a left-over night and Lydia's been meaning to meet the only eligible male on this desert island." That part was true. They'd both watched their neighbor from their porch with binoculars. They were stalkers-in-training. Horny middle-aged divorcees living on their alimony. Pathetic.

And that's how Castle met the island's resident horny cougar-in-waiting.

* * *

><p>Neighbors' beach house<p>

"You invited him for dinner? Tonight? Are you nuts, Rhonda? We hardly have a thing – "

"Oh, quit it. You know we both wanted to meet him and besides, he's bringing over a pot of his 'famous stew' and beer. All we really have to do is provide the other stuff."

"So, is he gay?" Lydia was 45 and trying to regain her lost youth. Instead she'd gained muscle mass.

"Oh, thank God, no! he says he's divorced, twice, and chucked a career as an editor for a publishing house in Chicago to start over down here."

* * *

><p>7pm<p>

Alex negotiated the 100 yards of sand-filled potholes that comprised the road to his neighbor's house. It was also 'shabby' in the Pawleys Island way and probably hadn't seen a paintbrush in the last 40 years or so. The steps up to the porch were sagging and he wished he'd come by beach instead of road.

"Hey, you found us! Is that the famous stew you bragged about? We're starved."

"Hey, Rhonda. Yep. Prepare to be gastronomically ravaged. My last guest offered me $500 for the recipe – honestly." He was stretching the truth. Mike had said he'd love the recipe if only to prove to his wife that 'a man can cook'.

She blinked at him and then let a slow sultry smile grace her lips. She wanted to be ravaged all right, but not with food. She had fixed her hair and nails and spent an hour trying to figure out which top would prove she was braless without being whorish. Her choice of a white translucent silk pullover had been her final choice and from the look on his face, the correct one.

He knew he was in trouble. He would need to be very careful and make sure he stayed in control of things. He'd been married twice and Rhonda was obviously trolling to become #3 or maybe just take him to her bed. Too bad. He already had #3 reserved. And he was staying the course, hoping somehow things would resolve themselves and he could go back to being Richard Castle, father, and add 'husband to Kate' to his label.

They had dinner on their deck. The winds were picking up and one didn't have to live on the strand long to develop a 'weather eye'. It was just the beginning of hurricane season and the weather promised rain, nothing more.

Conversation, good food, ice cold beer, and the evening took care of itself. He had noticed the telescope mounted on a tripod pointed at place down the beach and a quick look when his hosts were grabbing plates and bowls showed his private balcony. There was an expensive pair of Bausch shooting binoculars – the kind with the red lenses for low-light – lying on the deck railing cap.

'_I haven't been sitting out there naked and drunk have I?' _He racked his brain but couldn't think of a single time he'd wandered out naked…that he remembered.

The dinner broke up early with his promise to 'have them over soon' and he walked back to his place via the beach. Rhonda had whispered that she'd love a private tour, especially of the master suite, and had blatantly palmed his crotch and smiled an unmistakable invitation.

He'd almost sprinted off the deck after hasty good nights. Somewhere in the underbrush he could hear a cougar growling hungrily. He hadn't done a damned thing and now he was in serious trouble of the female kind.

* * *

><p>80 Miles south of Pawleys Island<p>

"Kate, I figure we only have a week before we hit the NC line. What then?"

"Like I said, you go home to school and I start over. I can't be wrong about this, Lex. His clues were not overly subtle and he knew I'd be alone when I watched it. There has to be something in the video that we both missed. Maybe he was blatant about generalities but very subtle about specifics. Let's look at the DVD again when we set up for the night."

"Katherine Beckett, I am not, for about the 10th time, I am not abandoning you or my father. We will find him together and then I'll get lost for a while and you - you can have your wicked way with him."

Alexis was trying not to laugh at the look on Kate's face. Love. Lust. Longing. And shock. She lost all her self-control when Kate's mouth opened and closed without a sound and her eyes got all dark and lust-filled.

"Kate, I wish I had a camera. I could blackmail you for years threatening to show my dad."

"I wouldn't pay because he'd know, Alexis. And I'll take you up on your offer of a 'wicked way time'. Say a year or two while you're in college?"

Now it was Alexis' turn to blush and stammer.

* * *

><p>The next morning Castle strolled up the beach to check the post office and see what the clipping service had mailed. He was also curious to see if his 'unsolicited manuscript' of the first 5 chapters of <em><span>Exile<span>_ had prompted a response – even if it was just a rejection notice.

"Hey, neighbor!" He looked around and didn't see Rhonda anywhere near the beach house. He resumed his stroll up towards the 'town' sure it was just his imagination when he heard it again.

"Hey, Alex!" He turned towards the surf line and saw Rhonda walking up to the shore wearing a white bikini bottom and nothing else. She held a fishing spear and a net bag in one hand and a diver's mask with snorkel in the other and her wet hair framed her face and trailed down over her shoulders.

"H – hey, Rhonda. Lost your top there." He was looking up the beach, up into the sky, down at his feet, anywhere but at the two well tanned breasts that drew his gaze despite the best of intentions.

"Nope. Didn't wear it. I was hoping to catch you alone on the beach. Alex, I can't be more blatant that if I stripped off the bottom now and knocked you on your ass and raped you. You're not gay but you're alone and a man like you shouldn't be alone…anymore than a woman like me. We're adults, Rick. I'll see you sometime later this week, okay? Lydia goes into town once a week and I'm free of her. I'll even bring the beer."

She laughed and walked past him towards her beach house without saying another word. He didn't turn around. He just walked up the beach towards the post office shaking his head. How did he get into these messes? Something she said was worming its way into his subconscious. Something suddenly made him very uneasy about Rhonda and it wasn't bare boobs. It was something she'd said. He just couldn't remember and it would bug him for the rest of the day.

* * *

><p>"Morning, Mollie. Any mail for me?"<p>

"Yep. You weren't here yesterday. I suppose you'll be wantin' us to start 'home delivery' for ya?" It was her standard banter when he missed a day. He'd gotten involved in replanking the porch once and missed two consecutive days and she came waddling down the strand with his mail and a stern warning not to scare her again with his absences. She and her husband had extended their 'family' to include him.

"Nah, messed up my knee on a piece of drift wood and just took it easy for a day, that's all."

"What's this here 'Black Pawn'? From New Yawk, too." She emphasized her accent when dealing with Yankees or their cities. She was still fighting the War of Northern Aggression in her own way. He never said anything about it but he thought it was odd considering her husband was a Black man.

He wondered for just a moment why she didn't consider him a 'damned Yankee' and then he remembered his cover story. He was from the Mid-west.

They talked for another half hour or so and then he wandered back down the beach towards home. 'Home'. He now thought of the B&B as his home. He didn't know whether to laugh or be sad. His subconscious must have recognized the feelings for what they were and provided the correct noun.

He got busy with his repairs and painting and forgot about the envelope from Black Pawn. Toward evening he cooked himself a quick dinner and then walked out to his rear deck and watched the evening sky turn dark.

* * *

><p>Reynolds RV Park<br>25 miles south of Pawleys Island

Alexis walked quickly back to the RV and climbed up into the cabin and plopped down on the couch.

"Kate, I think we have a problem. Hear me out and then tell me I'm crazy but I'm about ready to freak out."

"Lex, what's got you so spooked? Did someone say something to you, what?"

"I just walked into the office to ask about the local B&Bs, y'know, like always, and there was this guy I saw before just standing there, watching the RV. He wore a Yankees t-shirt and it was the same guy I saw when I went in to the KOA campground office we spent the first night in, down near Savannah. It was the same guy."

"Okay, what did he look like?"

"Middle Eastern, glasses, high topped tennis shoes and he looked like he hadn't shaved in a week. I swear it was the same guy and he looked at me and walked out and back towards a white panel van that I saw back there also."

"Lex, you're letting your imagination run away with you."

"The panel van had NY license plates and I've seen it in traffic. I saw it when you got lost out there in deliverance country. I'm telling you, they're following us."

"Lex…"

"Damn it, Kate! They tried to kill my Dad and they used me to lure him into a trap and now they're following us. We need to do something. We have to throw them off the scent or something."

"Wait here. I'm going to look around and see what I can see. Lock up and don't open up for anyone but me." Kate went back to the sleeping area and took her personal Beretta 9mm and left the motor coach and walked back to 'check on the generator' and saw the van Alexis saw. It had New York plates.

She saw the flare of a cigarette lighter and knew she was being watched. Alexis had been right!

Kate banged on the door and climbed into the driver's seat and told Alexis to lock down the coach. She took out her cell phone and called the only person she felt she could trust, hoping no grudges were being held.

"This is Jordan Shaw." Kate went down the list of everything Alexis had seen and then added her own observations. Shaw told her to 'sit tight' and she'd have local agents from the Bureau take down the passengers in the van.

"Beckett, why are you in South Carolina anyway? Alexis is supposed to be in school at Princeton. What the hell are you two up to?"

"A family reunion. We're going to a family reunion. I'll get back with you when something happens. Thanks." She disconnected the call and then told Alexis what was going to happen and then swallowed her pride and apologized.

"You were right. I was wrong. Now all we have to do is sit tight and wait for the cavalry to arrive. We're close, Lex, we're close to finding him. I can feel it in my bones."

She watched the van using the big mirror mounted on the side of the motor home. She could see the occasional flare of a match as someone lit cigarette after cigarette.

After what seemed like hours, she saw a man and woman, obviously drunk, walk to the van and knock on the window. The man held up a cigarette and asked for a light. In the flare of the lighter she saw the woman shove a pistol into the neck of the driver and then drag him out and throw him to the ground. Several other men stormed the van and dragged out the sleeping passenger – the guy Alexis had described.

A man identified himself as Special Agent Scanlon and briefed Kate on what they'd found. The two men were well armed, had photographs of Kate and Alexis asleep in the motor home as well as pictures of them in New York. They also had several pictures of Castle clipped from newspaper articles.

"Ms. Beckett, these guys are going into the tank. Under the Patriot Act we can hold them until we find enough evidence for a case. You two can continue on about your business. Agent Shaw will contact you if a statement or complaint is required. Thanks for the tip. We were getting bored."

Sleep was long in coming for the two women. One was worried that others might be following them hoping they'd lead them to her father. The other was thinking more about Castle coming in from Witness Protection and resuming his normal life if these two were the last of the sleeper cells.


	10. Chapter 10

One more chapter after this one. Sorry for the typos but I got sand in the keyboard. Enjoy and thanks for reading.  
>OM<p>

* * *

><p><em><span>No Matter Where You Go<span>_ by Oldest Man

Chapter 10

Pawleys Island  
>6am<p>

Alex stepped out on his deck and breathed in a lungful of clean salt air – and coughed and coughed.

'_All this fresh air is killing me! I need fumes from cabs and buses, I need the miasma of fifteen thousand sweating and cheering bodies crowded together at a Nicks game, I need New York!'_

He wouldn't admit it but he was homesick for the city. He actually loved the sand bar but hated the fact that he was stuck here until things changed and that might take the rest of his life.

His eyes strayed to the tanned figure in the white bikini bottoms that was making its way into the surf line. He watched as she poured seawater over her head using the mask and then put on her mask and dove into the surf.

He hated to admit it. He was losing any hope of ever being together with Kate again and he was fast losing his resolve to be celibate and faithful when the odds seemed so stacked against him. He was afraid that one disappointment, one setback, and he would surrender _Richard Castle_ and accept _Alexander Richards _as his fate.

Alex walked back inside and made himself a quick breakfast and then sat down and opened the envelope from Black Pawn. He quickly scanned the letter and then saw the attached check for $5,000 - an advance on his initial contract that, according to the letter, was 'being completed and would be in the mail post haste'. There was also a 'request' for a meeting in New York.

It bothered _Castle_ when he read the part of the letter that described his work as 'gritty and much more realistic' and that it might 'easily eclipse' Richard Castle's Nikki Heat series. Damn it, _Sebastian Rook _**was** _Richard Castle!_

He glanced at Gina's signature and growled. He'd mail the damn check back with a smart-assed note telling her to take her 'pittance' and shove it where half the men in New York already had.

His ego was taking a beating and his loneliness wasn't helping matters at all. He looked at the figure disappearing under the waves and went to find his trunks.

If Richard Castle was dead then Alexander Richards had better start living.

* * *

><p>Reynolds RV Park<br>25 miles south of Pawleys Island

Beckett woke from a sound sleep and a wonderful dream to the sound of Alexis 'puttering' around in the kitchen. She glanced at her Dad's watch and noted the time – 7am. _'Alexis must be hungry. I normally have to drag her out of bed.'_

"Morning, Lex. I take it you're hungry?" She noted that the teenager had already been up to the office and used the facilities. She had her hair wrapped in a towel.

"Did you know that Agent Scanlon is still here and that the couple who took out the terrorists have been in the van all night waiting to see if anyone tried to communicate with them? They take this stuff really seriously! We're on our own though after this morning. They have a bank robbery to investigate so they'll be taking off soon."

"Well, I can take a hint. Finish making us breakfast and I'll run through the shower stall up there and then we'll hit the road. I have a good feeling about today, Lex. We're almost at the end of the road. I can feel it."

There were 11 B&Bs and 3 locations that rented beach bungalows between their current location and the Strand and Myrtle Beach. Beckett didn't think that the US Marshals would drop Castle in a popular area with so many possibilities of exposure so she felt both anticipation and dread knowing they were almost at the end of the road.

What if she'd been wrong? What if they'd driven by his location and left him far behind? What if – what if he gave up on her ever finding him and just embraced his new life and someone else?

'What if' plagued her through breakfast and her shower. Alexis had written out the route they were going to follow and the approximate driving and 'searching time' between locations. Barring mishaps, they'd overnight at Pawleys Island' and then continue on up the Strand to Myrtle Beach the next day.

* * *

><p>Pawleys Island<br>9am

He tucked his response letter to Gina and Black Pawn into his shirt pocket, stuffed his 9mm in the rear waistband of his trunks and pulled on a garish and baggy Hawaiian shirt and sandals and left his place and headed for the post office.

Alex walked carefully up the sand bar, skirting the drift fencing and headed for the wet sand that provided better footing and a more stable platform for his knee. He had a lot of pain this morning and the damned thing didn't want to bend right. Jogging was a definite no-no so he opted for a careful walk up to the post office.

His water nymph was nowhere to be seen and he breathed a sigh of relief. He wasn't ready for anything so intense as a quick summer fling yet. The letter he'd written to Gina had given him a much-needed boost as far as his attitude was concerned.

_Ms. Cowan:_

_Thank you very much for your kind words and check but I've decided that I don't want my work marketed as 'the new Richard Castle' as I'm sure you are planning on doing._

_Therefore, I'm enclosing your check and I wish you and your fellow bloodsucking bottom feeders good luck in your attempts to capitalize on the demise of Mr. Castle._

S. Rook

He had things to do at the B&B and as soon as he returned from the Post Office he'd get started. Busy hands and a busy mind. He would stay the course and have faith that he'd come out of this nightmare. Six months. He'd give it six months before burying Richard Castle and begin living as Alexander Richards.

* * *

><p>Pawleys Island Post OfficePharmacy/Hardware Store

"Well, I see you took my warning to heart, Alex. Your leg's bothering you again, tain't it? You know you should be wearing that brace of yours. I don't want to have to start 'home delivery' to a crippled man."

"Yeah, I think I slept wrong. Hurts to bend it. I need some stuff to smear on it and maybe take the stiffness out of it."

"This is the first time I've seen you mail anything other than a bill, Alex. You going to be a famous writer? Add something to the Island's charm?" Her sarcasm wasn't mean, just snarky. She wanted to keep the Pawleys Island charm undeveloped. It was good for business.

"Nope. Told them to stuff it. Maybe I'll find another publisher who doesn't think I'm somebody's reincarnation and will just publish what I write without a lot of New York crap, know what I mean?

They bantered on while Alex was eyeballing the nail gun Mollie's husband rented. His only concern was getting the compressor unit into this heap and then muscling it into the house. He'd have to think about it. Maybe he'd buy extra nails and just live with having to use a hammer. Might add to the rustic effect.

He finished his coffee and waved goodbye and started off on his long journey home. Twenty minutes for a round trip. It took him longer to get from his apartment to his car in New York. Island living did have its advantages.

* * *

><p>Kate &amp; Alexis<br>3 miles south of Pawleys Island southern causeway  
>11:30am<p>

"Kate, I think we need to stop and top off the Beast and get some lunch. This Pawleys Island doesn't even have a restaurant! Talk about backward places to vacation – no nightclubs, no bars, no nothing. Just sand and ocean and nothing to do."

"Actually, Alexis, that sounds like heaven. Sometimes you just need to stop and relax and recharge your batteries in the sun. You're young – you'll change your tune after you get involved in the career rat race. Trust me. What you complain about sounds really inviting."

"Well, this place has nothing going for it. Salt marshes, hardly any permanent resident, the website is a joke and there's all kinds of regulations covering development. Sounds – antisocial – to me. Get this – the post office is a hardware store and pharmacy but they're only open until noon! What if someone wants to shop later in the day? It's too primitive to be – American!"

Kate laughed and turned off the main road onto the southern causeway. There was one 'official' B&B but two places that rented bungalows and there were hints of some kind of 'hotel' that rented only suites. Sounded like heaven to her.

"Kate! Gas! You know the gauge in this thing isn't very accurate. Talk about Deliverance Country! This place doesn't even have a convenience store or a gas station. We're gonna run out of gas and be marooned here, Kate." Alexis shuddered in dread.

"Quit being such a damned drama queen, Lex. It's not that damned long of an island and it's got a northern causeway. Think of it as a really nice rest stop. We won't run out of gas. But maybe we should think about finding a restaurant. Maybe hit one of these places and see about buying lunch?"

Kate pulled carefully off the paved road that ran along the salt marsh and onto a sandy road that led to the first B&B on the island. The last thing she wanted was to have the Beast stuck in the sand. She drove by several homes that looked picturesque in a dilapidated kind of way. She thought 'Nantucket without the snootiness' and giggled.

Alexis grumbled good-naturedly. "Probably have to eat possum and grits, or some kind of swamp thing. Do you see those trees? They're saltwater cypress. That means there are all kinds of thing living there that think _we're_ lunch. I'm not getting out of the damned Beast, Kate. If you do, take your pistol. I don't want to have to explain to my dad how you got dragged off by the Swamp Thing or a gator."

Kate laughed and then waved at a blonde woman in a bikini who waved back and then went back inside her beach house. Another hundred yards of sand-filled potholes and she pulled the Beast into a parking area that was dressed in crushed shells. The B&B seemed in good repair and she could see that the steps and porch were newly planked and stained and that whoever owned the place was at least trying to make a good impression.

"Let's go, Lexie. This place has a certain appeal, doesn't it? At least it's got a welcome sign out. C'mon, I'm hungry and maybe we can get a lead on your dad."

"Kate, there are critters out there! Seriously! I think I saw an alligator swimming down the swamp. You go first. In all the movies I've seen, the girl who goes first gets eaten first. No one kills the second one. They have to carry the story line."

"Move it, kid. I'm hungry!" They both walked up the porch steps although Alexis kept looking over her shoulder, convinced that they were about to be attacked by swamp creatures.

The foyer was cool and dark but smelled of fresh varnish and wood stain – another sign that someone cared enough to repair and care for the place. There was a lunch menu posted in chalk on a framed black board and Alexis was busy reading the menu while Kate hit the old-style striker bell on the registration desk for attention.

* * *

><p>Alex was just getting back from the post office and heard the sound of a motor home out on the shell road. He wasn't open for business on weekdays yet and decided whoever it was would eventually get pissed off enough at being ignored that they'd leave him in peace.<p>

He walked into the kitchen and grabbed a beer, intent on going up to his private deck and working on his tan and maybe another chapter or two of _Exile_. He was getting to the good part and he wanted to immerse himself in the moment and write.

* * *

><p>"Hello? Is anyone home? Hello?" Alexis suddenly had the feeling that someone creepy lived in this place. There were no signs of anyone but she felt creeped out anyway.<p>

"Kate, let's just go. No one's here and I don't hear anything or smell anything like food. The fumes are killing my contacts, Kate." The feeling of dread was increasing by the second. She'd definitely seen too many movies.

Kate laughed and told her to 'chill, Alexis' and walked into the dining area and then into the kitchen. There was no one there but the remnants of someone's breakfast was on the butcher-block island and the coffee was hot. Feeling daring, she poured herself a cup and smiled, as she tasted Jamaican Blue Mountain. She and Castle would – no. She would concentrate on the mission. There would be time to reminisce later.

She walked back to the foyer and registration desk and then walked halfway up the paneled stairway and called out her own hello – "We'd like some damned service down here!" She yelled loudly with a tinge of anger coloring her voice.

* * *

><p>"Shit!" He set his beer aside and saved his work and logged off his laptop. "Damned people can't take a hint!" He hated it when people 'demanded' anything anymore.<p>

He walked slowly down the steps to the second floor and leaned over the railing to see if he could see who had dared demand service. '_Probably some Yankees fleeing the cold weather. Sure hate it for them. We're not open for guests without reservations!_'

Kate heard someone walking down the stairs and she motioned Alexis to join her at the registration desk. Whoever it was certainly was in no hurry to get down there.

They heard a voice boom out "We're not open for guests yet and I'm not cooking lunch. Sorry, you're out of – "


	11. Chapter 11

"Fluff? I don' write no stinkin' fluff.

* * *

><p><em>No Matter Where You Go <em>by Oldest Man

Chapter 11

Pawleys Island  
>Alex's B&amp;B<p>

No one moved. Not one muscle. Kate felt the tears building behind her eyes and blinked rapidly almost afraid she was still asleep in the Beast.

It took Alexis to break the stalemate. With the cry of 'Daddy!' she ran to her father and dove up to his neck and hung on, finally succumbing to the tears of joy. "Daddy, you're alive!"

Castle squeezed his daughter to him, afraid to let her go. He was afraid it was all a dream and he'd never once taken his eyes from Kate since finally realizing who she was. She looked older, drawn, tired, magnificent, beautiful and best of all, HERE!

He held out one arm to her and she walked toward him, tears streaming down her cheeks but with the biggest grin imaginable. She had found him! The Quest was over and at last they could be together.

He held on to his girls as if his very life depended on it. Alexis just hung on and her weight was killing his knee but he wouldn't dream of making her let go. Kate just held him closely and wiped her tears off on his shirt.

"Castle, where the hell did you get this shirt? It's – disgusting." It was the only thing she could say until she heard him say something, anything.

He looked down at his girls and smiled, his tears gone and his mind flying through a thousand possibilities for how they could slip away and disappear under the radar, off the grid, into the underground economy and anonymity.

"After a year apart, Beckett, that's the best 'Hello' you can muster? Alexis, honey, I have to sit down for a minute. Let's take this happy reunion to the kitchen. Your old man's got a bum knee and I'm not wearing my damned brace."

"Oh, Dad, I'm so sorry. I didn't know. I – " Fresh tears and he was so tired of it all.

"Hey, you don't read minds and I think the Fibs and the Marshals probably don't even know you're here and that's good. So, Kate, come south for the winter?" He was desperately trying to put things on a normal footing and failing miserably. No matter what he said it would come out wrong.

"No, Castle. I told you that no matter where you would go I would find you, and now that I have, I don't know what to do." She didn't know. She'd imagined this scene so many times in the past and now that it was real, she hadn't a damned thing to say.

"Yeah. I hoped you would follow the clues I gave you but I really had just about given up hope. I read where you'd left the department but you just dropped out of sight and I was afraid they'd got you or that you went into the Program too. I never should have doubted you, Kate."

"I was beginning to doubt myself, Rick. If it hadn't been for Alexis and her drive, I might have just…damn it, this is all wrong. We're together and we're sitting here like someone died."

Somehow they both stood and crashed together and the kiss was both hot and awkward. They hadn't had much practice in the past year.

"Ugh, parental PDAs. Please, young person in the room!" She was absolutely delighted but felt uncomfortable like she was cramping their style.

"Kate, I'm going out to the Beast and secure it. I'll make a lot of noise when I come back, OK?"

"The Beast?" Castle had no idea what she was talking about.

"Out motor home. Kate bought it when we decided to find you. Kate lets me drive sometime. Anyhow, I'll be back in a bit."

Castle watched his grownup daughter leave the kitchen and shook his head.

"She's grown up, Castle. She had to. It's been tough on all of us. Your mom's in California doing some theatre thing and has no idea you're alive. I finally broke down and told Alexis after she told me she couldn't lose me too when I was shot. I shouldn't have but it turned out to be the best decision I've made since finally telling you that I loved you."

"C'mere, Kate. I need a hug from my favorite girl." He didn't need to ask twice and she was on his lap and in his arms in a second.

"Castle, I'd better be your _only_ girl, well, except for Lex of course."

"Okay, I needed a hug from my woman, my lover, my future and my third and done. How's that?"

"Better. Look, she'll be back any second. I have something I need you to do for me, Rick."

"Anything."

"Marry me, Richard Castle, marry me and be my one and done? I know it's sudden and – " Whatever she might have wanted to say was lost in the heat and neediness of his kiss.

After a while she whispered, "I guess that's a 'yes', Rick?"

"Absoluely yes. Let's find Alexis and I'll give you the grand tour. I don't know how we'll manage with me here and you back in New York but maybe the Abu-Jihad will lose interest and - ."

"Rick, the Abu-Jihad is finished. The last two members were taken last night not 30 miles from here. They were following us, using us to lead them to you. Alexis spotted them and tied it all together and we contacted Shaw and she got a team and they took them down alive. It's only a matter of time, baby, and we'll be together again and you won't have to hide."

"That's wonderful news, Kate. I need to call Mike Ponti and see what's up with the Marshal's Service. Man, I was just getting this place in shape, too."

"Well, it might not happen right away. I could stay here and help. Alexis needs to get back into school. She's almost lost a year. We can talk about all that later. Right now, tell me all about you and what you've been doing."

"Let's wait for Alexis so I can just tell it once. In the meantime, I'll throw something together for lunch. I guess you two are probably starved."

"That's the main reason we stopped here. Well, you were on our list so we would have been here sometime today. What's it like living out here so far from civilization?"

Rick somehow felt offended. "Beckett, it's nice here. No crime, no home invasions, no murders, no rapes or robberies, no homeless people; it's got its advantages over city life. The people would give you anything if you needed it. I like it here. I hated it at first and just this morning I was wishing for pollution, congestion, traffic jams, courtside tickets to a Knicks game. I swear, Beckett, the fresh air is killing me."

Her laughter was like nothing he'd experienced. It was so natural and nothing like her 'Beckett laugh'. It was spontaneous and unfettered.

She looked him over. Other than his gray hair, he looked healthy and his skin was tanned and he'd lost weight. She thought he'd never looked better.

Castle finally brought up New York and what went down with her mother's killers. They talked about it – Castle listened for once, not interrupting her – and then he wiped the last tears "I ever want to see in your eyes, Kate."

Alexis came in, slamming the screen door by way of warning, and strolled into the kitchen bringing two bags and a zip case containing Kate's pistol and spare ammo.

"Uh, Alexis, are you moving in? I'm really not open for business yet. I suppose you could both sleep in the monster parked in my front yard…"

"Dad! We came all this way and you want us to sleep in the _Beast! _But – "

"Gotcha! There are three bedrooms and a master suite. You can take your pick but the suite is mine – and Kate's." Beckett's smile was slow and subtle and beguiling. She hoped the 'master suite' was well away from the other bedrooms because she planned on making a lot of noise once Alexis was safely tucked away.

"Good. As long as it has a bathtub I'm cool with it. I've been taking showers forever and I need a nice hot soak with bubble bath and scented candles and – "

"Just how much time have you been spending with Alexis, Kate? That sounds like something that you would say."

"Oh, please, Dad. You just don't pay attention to me. I've been soaking like that for two years or more. It's relaxing and I can shave my legs – "

"Stop! Visual image is totally unnecessary. I get it. Really. Just – just stop with the imagery. I remember when you wouldn't take a bath without the Little Mermaid thing."

"Dad, I was like what, four?"

They ate bowls of Rick's stew and both women had compliments and second helpings. The conversation ranged from Kate's tales of Alexis and Walmart and her driving skills to Kate's inability to accept directions from a 'Castle toy' and getting lost in Deliverance Country.

"Dad, there's like nothing to do here. How do you stay busy? You can only fix this place up once and then – BOREDOM CITY!"

"I've been writing a new novel. It's semi autobiographical but covers the situation without being name-specific. I sent it in to Black Pawn, well, the first five chapters, and I got back a check. They wanted a meeting in New York but, Kate," he looked over at her and she was surprised by both the anger and sadness, "Gina wrote that Sebastian Rook was the new Richard Castle – only better! Me better than me? So I sent the damned check back and told her to shove it where half of New York had already been."

Alexis started to laugh but a look from Kate stopped her dead. Her dad was alive and kicking but Richard Castle was dead.

"Oh, honey, it's all right. You'll be able to zing Gina with the truth once we're done here."

The front screen door slammed shut and Castle touched the small of his back checking to make sure he was armed. It had become second nature and the main reason he wore the flowery Hawaiian shirts. They were loose and covered his pistol.

"Hey, Alex, you home? I see you got a customer."

"Shhh, that's Lydia, my 100-yards-away next door neighbor. You're guests for lunch, nothing more."

"Hey, Lydia. We're in the kitchen. I'm feeding the crew from the motor home. Want some stew?" He spoke loudly and seemed delighted with her arrival.

"Oh, I don't mean to interrupt but – I see I've been upstaged. Detective Beckett, Ms. Castle, I'm Marshal Lydia Hamilton, one of Alex's watchdogs. We figured you'd show up any time now."

"You and Rhonda are US Marshals? Man, I never even suspected…"

"That's the way it's supposed to work, Alex. So, are you two visiting or moving in? We were briefed on last night's action. I imagine Alex will be going back to his real life as soon as those two are processed and incarcerated. I'm going to miss this assignment."

"Where's Rhonda? I figured you two were just divorced stalkers." Kate raised an eyebrow over that comment but let it slide. She'd find out more later.

"Uh, yeah, about that. She's, well, she's a free spirit and sleeping with the protectees is definitely not on the program so you don't have to worry about her anymore. Mike raked her over the coals for the topless thing she did. I've never seen him so angry before."

"Topless? Rick, honey, sweetie, _explain topless!" _Her grip on his hand was suddenly very painful.

"Ms. Beckett, Alex here was a pillar of virtue and I think that made her a little more crazy than usual. She should be around here any second – hopefully fully clothed." The Marshal was not above teasing Alex and Kate caught on quickly although Alexis had yet to look her father in the eye.

The front door slammed again and Lydia just smirked. "Here comes the she-devil now. Ms. Beckett, I'll handle her. Just pretend you're regular folks out for lunch on the sand bar."


	12. Chapter 12

This is the last chapter. I hope you've enjoyed reading it. Thanks for the alerts and reviews. Read the last section carefully to avoid mental distress.

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><p><em><span>No Matter Where You Go<span>_ by Oldest Man

Chapter 12

Lydia Hamilton turned and the next few minutes were absolute chaos. The Marshal had seen her partner carrying a pump-action shotgun and reached for her weapon under her shirt but didn't make it. A shotgun blast to the chest sent her lurching backward into Alexis and they both fell to the floor.

Alexis started to scream and Beckett reached for her zip bag and her pistol when Rhonda ratcheted another shell into the shotgun and pointed it down at Alexis who was partially covered by Lydia's body.

"Don't! I won't hesitate to blow her head off, Beckett. Push the pistol bag onto the floor and kick it away nice and slowly. Well, Ricky, looks like you won't be enjoying my charms anytime soon. Sad, really. I would have made you feel so good right up until I cut your throat."

"Rhonda, you're a damned US Marshal, for Christ's sake. What the hell are you doing?" He wanted her to focus on him and not his daughter.

"What am I doing? I'm carrying out my assignment, Ricky. See, Beckett here has been making trouble for my employers and, well, apparently they are mighty vexed by it and so they figured out that she'd eventually find you wherever the Service had you stashed."

Castle looked at Beckett and quietly said, "Oh, crap. Another trap."

"They have people working in the Program and discovered where _you _were so they recruited me to kill her if she showed up. I didn't care. It was a nice addition to my regular pay and if she never showed up, well, I'd eventually wear you down and it wouldn't be a total waste of time.

"Beckett, you said those guys were all either dead or in jail. What's – "

Rhonda just looked at him like he was somehow challenged in some way.

"Castle, for a crime writer you sure don't understand how things work. They still call the shots, even from behind bars. Cell phones can be smuggled in. Calls come out. People get orders and other people get dead. It's a business, Castle, and like all good businesses, it has a line of succession in the event of death. Speaking of which…" She shifted the muzzle of the shotgun from Alexis to Castle.

Rick reached over and grabbed Kate's hand and pulled her to him in an embrace. She automatically reached her arms around him and – and felt the pistol in the waistband of his shorts. He nodded and grinned.

"Castle, whatever happens, I love you." She grinned up at Rick and then turned to face Rhonda with Castle's pistol in her hand and fired several times. The rogue agent got off one shot that blew away a portion of the kitchen island before the shotgun fell from her lifeless hands.

Kate ran to Alexis and rolled Lydia's body off the teenager and helped her up. She was covered in the agent's blood and nearly hysterical. She held on to Kate like a drowning person does a life preserver.

"Lex, it's okay, sweetie. Are you hurt? C'mon, Lex, **are you hurt**?" She felt Alexis shake her head but couldn't understand her at all. She turned to Rick for help.

"Rick, can you – Alexis, let _go _of me!" She pushed a stunned Alexis away and ran to Rick's side. "Alexis, call 9-1-1 and – "

Castle was on the floor and his entire stomach was a mess of red and yellow and Kate almost lost control. He was gasping for breath but he didn't want Alexis, or Kate for that matter, to draw any more attention to the B&B than was required.

"NO! Alexis - behind the registration - counter. Digital panel - alarm system -on the wall – push button marked 'Assistance Required'. Kate, is Lydia dead?"

She was kneeling down beside him amongst the pots and pans and condiment containers that had been in racks underneath the island. Kate had grabbed several kitchen towels and was pressing against the gaping wound. He was still gasping for breath

"Yeah. Alexis, go get a sheet from one of the rooms and bring it here. I'll cover Lydia with it. Alexis, move it!" The stunned girl was looking around at the two dead Marshals and was unable to focus. She was shivering but Kate's shout of 'move it' brought her to her senses.

"Yeah. Push the button and then get a sheet. Right. I can do that." She scampered away to do what she was told.

"Castle – " There were tears streaming down her face and he was still gasping for breath where the cast iron skillet had plowed into his stomach and winded him.

"Kate – help me up. Need to stand up – please!" He couldn't catch his breath with her putting almost all her weight on his 'wound'. "Damn, Kate! Not shot! Just winded."

Beckett helped him up to his feet after confirming that the goo on his shirt was indeed a mixture of mayonnaise, ketchup, mustard and various other condiments that were in the destroyed half-pantry under the island.

"Jesus, Kate, I was bait for their trap. Is it ever going to end? Will they ever give up trying to kill us? I'm tired of all this drama, Kate. I just want us to hide away someplace and – and – "

Alexis came back with sheets and the first aid kit from the Beast. She covered the US Marshal's body but just threw the sheet in the general direction of Rhonda.

"Kate, I got the first aid kit out of the Beast but there're two vans coming down the road. What if it's more of them? Dad? Are you hurt?"

"No, Pumpkin, just bruised. I got hit with a cast iron skillet – the skillet took the brunt of the blast. I just go the wind knocked out of me."

Kate laughed and then wiped her hands off on one of the kitchen towels and tossed it to Alexis who yelped and dodged it. "Kate! That's gross. That's someone's, " she sniffed at it, "seasonings and ketchup and – "

"Yeah. Now hand me that shotgun. Your Dad had a pistol under that hideous shirt of his and I'll never complain about them again."

Alexis handed Kate the shotgun and Kate gave Rick back his pistol.

"Alexis, go out the back door and run up the beach to the post office and tell Mollie to call the state police. Then you stay there, understand, until Kate or I come for you."

"But Dad – "

"Lex, listen to your father. Go get help!" Alexis ran out through the mudroom and down the porch steps and then took off running through the loose sand towards the post office.

"Listen, Castle, if we don't get another chance to talk, I just have to say I'm proud of you and your daughter and I'm so blessed to have had you in my life even for such a short time – "

"Bull! We haven't even started living yet, Kate. We have things to do, people to arrest, babies to make – uh, you do want to have a baby some day, don't you, Kate? I mean if you and I – "

"Shut up and kiss me. I hear the vans. You're right. We have things to do, people to arrest and a lot of baby making to do. Just one baby for now but a lot of practicing. We'll start tonight after we blow these sons of bitches away."

"Ooooo, I like blood thirsty Beckett. She's hot! And sexy. And – "

They heard the front screen door slam shut.

"Castle! It's Mike Ponti with the US Marshal's Service. You okay, Rick?"

Several men in tactical gear burst in through the back door and the front door. Mike Ponti took in the scene and began swearing.

"I knew that crazy bitch was dirty but I couldn't prove it. Damn, Hamilton was retiring after this hitch. Okay, Rick, you start. What the hell happened here?"

7pm  
>Rick's B&amp;B<p>

Kate was on the phone with Jordan Shaw and the task force and throwing a fit.

"What do you mean there are no links? She told us her contacts are in prison and she also told us that there's a clear line of succession for this conspiracy."

"No, Jordan, I am _not_ coming back. I'm staying with Rick. Alexis is going out to California in a few days and spend time with her grandmother who we **still** haven't told that her son is alive."

"Jordan, if they move Rick, they'll have to move me, too. I have nothing to return to. No job, no family, nothing. All I have in the world is right here on this sand bar and I'm not giving him up, understand?"

Kate closed her phone in a huff effectively disconnecting Jordan Shaw.

"Ms. Beckett, I overheard your conversation with the FBI. They have rules that are very structured. We don't. Rick has a choice now – he stays with the Program and we move him or he leaves, goes back to his old life and hopes all the sleeper cells have been taken."

"What's your intel on that? Are they all dead or in prison?"

"We don't know. Rick says he just wants you to be safe. Kate, you know you'll never be safe unless they're all dead or you're 'dead'." He was referring to the conspiracy that had killed her mother and so many others.

She nodded her head. It was the hard cold truth. She wasn't a cop any longer but that wasn't a safe bet. She could disappear with Castle and leave her old life behind or go back to New York and take her chances.

"You should have been in the Program during the grand jury phase and then we could have inserted you two together at some point but now, you both have a hard decision to make. We can take _you,_ alone, into the Program right now. Or we can take both of you."

"How long do I, we, have to decide?"

"No more than 24 hours to be safe. I can vouch for my team here but obviously not for those assigned from DC."

"Okay. Let me discuss this with Rick and we'll let you know our decision. Whatever is decided, thank you for being honest with us."

* * *

><p>The last of the Marshals' people were gone except for two watchers who had taken up residence in their dead predecessors' beach house. Alexis had finally fallen asleep and the two were finally alone, sitting out on Rick's deck off the Master Suite.<p>

"That's not much of a choice, is it, Kate? Go home and hope I'm not killed and we try to live normal lives or we go home and hope you're not killed and try to live normal lives. I could live with it except for the 'killed' part. That's a definite negative on the decision tree."

"What choice do we really have? If Abu-Jihad is out of the picture, Richard Castle rises from his ashes and continues to write and enjoy a wonderful life. Sounds really good to me, Rick."

"Yeah, except you left out 'alone' as in 'lives the rest of his days alone and heartbroken'. That's a no-starter for sure, Kate. Nope, not gonna happen."

"Castle…you're not being realistic. If we're together in New York you'll have a big bull's eye on your back just like I will. These bastards don't care who they kill as long as they get their revenge on me. I won't put you in that position."

"So we go into the Program – together – and live our lives together. It's the right choice, honey. You know it. I'm not giving up anything and either are you. What's the problem?"

"Alexis will lose a father and Martha will lose a living son again. That's the problem, Rick. They'll watch Alexis. They'll watch Martha. One slip up, one little misspoken word and it's all over."

"Fine. Beckett, here's my final offer. I'm writing this scene as I go along so bear with me."

"Local residents stumbled onto the scene of a gangland shoot out in which local resident Alex Richards, handsome and devil-may-care B&B owner and an as yet unidentified but incredibly beautiful guest were cruelly shot down while eating lunch together. The criminals also killed two US Marshals who were having lunch at the famous B&B but were not otherwise involved. The local FBI office is investigating the crime but has no leads."

"What about Alexis?"

"Alexis sells the motor home to you and I in our new personas and heads out to California and Stanford University. She will explain to her grandmother as best she can. More on that later."

"Castle, if we're going into the Program, why do we need a motor home?"

"Why, ex-detective Beckett – however else are we going to go _really_ dark and go deeper than the Program managers ever conceived?"

"Rick, take your hand out from under my blouse. No fooling around until we come to a dec – _Castle! Stop!"_

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><p>13 Months Later<br>Telchak Puerto on the Gulf of Mexico  
>Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico<p>

"Mmmm, I like waking up next to you. Think we can skip breakfast and just snuggle up like newly weds?"

"We _are_ newly weds, Mrs. Brooks. Our first anniversary was yesterday and we reenacted our wedding night three times before I begged you for mercy. How about a fresh fruit plate and freshly squeezed papaya juice for breakfast? It is 9am after all."

"I think I'd like to have something with a little more meat on the plate. Think you can help me out, Mr. Brooks?"

* * *

><p>They finally got out of bed in time for lunch and then drove into Progresso to pick up their mail. They were going sightseeing and have dinner and then meet the bus from Merida. Theirs was a permanent honeymoon and so far they'd spent each day doing whatever they pleased and there was no end in sight.<p>

"Hey, Nicole, we got another check from Black Pawn. They're up to $10 grand. What should I do with it?"

"Tell that annoying harpy ex-wife and ex-publisher the same thing you told her the first time – only tell her to remove the staples this time."

Nicole and Cassidy Brooks used to be Arnold and Roberta Thatcher but somehow they had given the US Marshals the slip and filtered down into Mexico, finally ending up in the Yucatan and deciding to stay for a while.

"Seriously, how are we fixed for money? Neither of us can access our US accounts because – well – because we're dead! Are we going to have to go home and get jobs?" She loved zinging her husband. He was so predictable.

"Nicole, I've told you a hundred times, we don't have money problems. I squirreled after-tax money into the Caymans and we've barely scratched the surface of it. We're still living on the cash we got for the Beast."

"Y'know I kinda miss that motor home."

"You don't like the Mercedes? Jesus, you're worse than Alexis. Never satisfied."

They'd spent almost a year in the Program as Arnold and Roberta in Scottsdale, Arizona when Alexis had called and told them that Esposito and Ryan had been 'discharged for cause' from the NYPD and were looking at possible criminal charges.

Cassidy Brooks had made a few calls, told a lot of lies, paid off some people to look the other way and then transferred a ton of money to accounts set up in Ryan and Esposito's names and told them to stay the course.

They packed up the Beast and headed south, slipping under the radar at the border and then driving south to their new home on the beach. It had taken quite a lot of planning and scheming but it was all coming to an end.

"Almost time to head for the station, Nicole. Think they'll recognize you?"

"So I got a tan and my hair is sun-bleached. I'm still me, Cass." She did look different with a tan, almost strawberry blonde sun-bleached hair and a permanent smile on her face.

"Yeah, and am I glad. I'd hate to have to explain you to my wife." She poked him in the ribs but didn't quit smiling. She hardly ever did. She was happy."

"You, on the other hand, well, the short gray hair and your weight loss might throw them. Lose the sunglasses, babe, they're friends."

The bus pulled in and first Lanie, then Javier and finally Jenny and Kevin piled wearily off the bus. Lanie was the first to recognize her old friend and she dragged her fellow travelers over to the couple she barely recognized.

After Cassidy made arrangements for the luggage to be delivered to the beach house in Telchak Puerto, the reunited crew went to dinner and talked about their vacation plans.

The next morning saw a council of war convened over the remnants of breakfast on the patio.

"Okay, what do you have for me?" Kate Beckett was back on the case. No one threatened her family. No one.

Done.


End file.
